Nagaram Lake turns into open drain

Nagaram: The Annarayuni Cheruvu aka Nagaram Lake in the Nagaram municipality situated on the outskirts of the city has been reduced to an open drain. Indiscriminate dumping of garbage and overflow of the sewage water body has made living near it a nightmare for the locals.

The locals are struggling to restore the lake to life. With the help of an NGO 'Helping Hands Humanity' and surrounding colonies, they have formed Annarayani Lake Protection Committee. The committee members and locals have been cleaning up the lake voluntarily on every Sunday for the last three years and were successful to remove the hyacinth but the lake is filled with stagnant sewage water coming from Kapra.

Land sharks started encroaching on the lake with each passing day, resulting in the shrinkage of the lake. However, the Keesara Circle Inspector of Police and Municipal Commissioners understood the gravity of the situation and rushed in to help the locals. Now, for the past three years, there have been no encroachments.

Speaking to the Hans India here on Friday, Narender Goud, CI Keesara Circle said, "Currently, you are seeing the situation of Chennai here in Hyderabad the way they are struggling for water. In our area, we have this lake and we should make sure this lake is protected and saved. I am happy to see the local community rising to the occasion and creating awareness about the lake. From our side, we will make sure that the Lake community will have moral and physical support to bring back the lake to its original glory."

Prashanth Mamidala, a software engineer by profession and a volunteer with 'Helping Hands Humanity' said, "There is hardly any water in the cheruvu. Only the sewage can be seen flowing into the lake. Despite complaints, nothing has been done to rectify its condition. The result is an unbearable stench across the area, he says."

"We have been trying to save the lake for the past three years. After organizing numerous cleaning drives and with the help of the civic authorities, we were finally successful in removing the hyacinth. However, another major concern was the sewage water coming from the Kapra in pipes and which was being dumped in the lake which creates a lot of silt every day. We request the government to take up silt removal/ drainage line separation and fencing for the lake. Also, we are looking forward to looking at the lake as a mini tank bund," added Prashanth.

Venkat Bogi, a local resident, shares, "Earlier, the lake was not like this. People used to come for fishing here and kids used to swim in the water. Now the water is filled with sewage waste and garbage dumps which are killing the lake slowly. We request the authorities to divert the drainage/sewage water coming from Kapra and to use separate pipeline or open Nalas away from the lake and put proper fencing to the to stop the encroachments and renovate the lake."