Threat looming large at historic Firangi Nala

Rangareddy: In the absence of proper supervision both from the municipality as well as Irrigation department, the leftover parts of historic Firangi Nala are disappearing due to encroachments in Jalpally in Ranga Reddy district.

The latest attempt was reported from Sriram Colony in ward 20 of Jalpally municipality where over a kilometre long Firangi Nala, encompassing the main stretch and passing further inside the colony, was found encroached by dumping debris.

Sewer, emanating from houses illegally built over the nala, had already turned it into a filthy anabranch. The dumping of debris will pave the way for further encroachments that will result in its disappearance without a trace.

Already, most of the Firangi Nala--a historic waterway flows down all the way from Shankarpally to Ibrahimpatnam connecting several lakes on its course--was encroached over the years while the leftover remains in Jalpally too is disappearing due to surreptitious activities like dumping debris by vested interests to close the water way.

Lashing out at the impassive attitude of officials in safeguarding the water way in Jalpally, Abdul Bari, a community activist said, "taking advantage of the fragile state of supervision by both the irrigation as well as the municipal officials, vested interests, having political patronage, geared up and are busy in erasing the left over remains of the nala which, if closed completely, will create a flood-like situation during rainy season."

A few other encroachments on the nala were also reported from other parts of the municipality. People point fingers at officials who either allegedly connived with local politicians or were scared of performing their duties due to political interference.

Already land sharks in-cahoots with politicians have swallowed the Errakunta Cheruvu – a HMDA notified lake spread over 20 acres at Errakunta in Jalpally with ID No.3609 but found disappeared completely. Other lakes spread across the municipality are facing similar threats.