Telangana Government actions to turn Hyderabad into heat island

Telangana capital city is being pampered with series of congested bridges and flyovers. Unable to convince courts and tribunals or the people, the government is pre-occupied with hurriedly laying foundation stones for exotic cable bridge and ill-conceived skyways for the hi-tech city, while farmers’ rights are trampled and basic amenities ignored.

The government should forthright stop encashing on underlying Durgam Cheruvu for its fancy projects, while depriving Durgam Cheruvu of its right to be conserved as a heritage water body of Hyderabad. Decorative projects announced around Durgam akin to Hussain Sagar are yet another blow to the survival of lake.

What Durgam needs is exotic fishes and prawns to be able to survive inside the lake, migratory birds to return to the lake. Neither Durgam nor citizens are in need of the 'extradose' bridge above the lake.

Durgam Cheruvu's very right to be is at stake. Its rights include: Being at its maximum water spread with clean water; receiving free flow of storm water or cleansed water; having unblocked inflow and outflow channels; pervious gradient buffer zones with relevant plantations; flourishing aquatic life; fauna and flora in and around the lake; natural rocky terrain and contours in the buffer zone, so that rain water flows uninterrupted into the lake; and robust reporting mechanism by empowering citizens to connect to their lake.

Financial preparedness for the cable stayed bridge to cater to an estimate of 700 per hour car units (PCU) has been happening over the years and according to GO Rt 760, dated 28.10.2016 (not available on Government Order website), Rs 184 crore has been sanctioned with Rs 92 crore from GHMC and Rs 92 crore from TSIIC, whereas total cost could go up to Rs.250 crore for additional connecting roads.

Strange decisions such as cable stayed bridge and skyways, they say, are for “increasing tourism” and “decongest traffic.” These claims of government have been time and again questioned by civil society and courts. Flyovers are an invite to more vehicles; hence claims to 'decongest roads' and 'reduction of pollution' cannot hold ground.

Flyovers/skyways/Cable Bridge is part of SRDP (Strategic Road Development Programme) that is sub judice both in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and in the High Court at Hyderabad. Notwithstanding it, the government went ahead with laying foundation stone for cable bridge on a stinking and shrinking lake deprived of its heritage glory and sanctity, that it deserves.

Cases on encroachment and pollution of Durgam Cheruvu itself have been pending in the High Court at Hyderabad since 2001. The report of the Ramalinga Committee formed by the government in 2015 to report on 60 acres of encroachment in 163 acres maximum water spread of Durgam Cheruvu is yet to be made public or laid in the Assembly.

The entire project of SRDP in all its phases is expected to cost around Rs 20,000 crore, in addition to numerous environmental, social, health and economic costs. Financial burden is passed on to future generations as well, by raising finance thru bonds and other institutional finance.

Further, these projects are not substantiated with valid documents nor there is any necessity to have them in the first place. For example, the ‘Tree Protection Committee’ is non-existent and hence the report pulled out by government permitting tree-felling of 3,000 trees for SRDP is invalid.

WALTA Authorities with mandatory civil society participation constituted in January 2016 under the High Court Orders are the competent agencies, which have been overridden.

Cognitive abilities and health of citizens are ruptured due to air and water pollutions, hence, it is imperative to decongest the city and not choke the city with more flyovers. More flyovers simply mean further increase in temperature of the city due to heat trap, with serious implications on health of Hyderabadis.

Public hearings are being conducted for constructions of flyovers around KBR National Park (Chiran Palace Forest). KBR was shrunk over the years by previous governments and an illegal landmark project is still in progress inside the reserve zone.

The TRS government that came to power on Telangana’ sentiment has proven that it is nothing but a replica of previous 'Andhra' governments, in its attitude and culture, viz., not nature- and people- centric, but vote- and power-centric.

Yet another blow to fundamental rights are government's efforts to take over 60 acres of Bison Polo Grounds and Gymkhana Grounds from the Defence Forces, valued at Rs 500 crores.

Even as THE existing Secretariat building is vacant due to shifting of AP offices, Telangana government's act of encroaching upon scarce open spaces that are vital for the health of city-dweller is highly arbitrary and against public interest.

Government is congesting Hyderabad with flyovers and vehicles, increasing water and air pollution of the city thru more four-wheelers, more constructions, erosion of greenery and landfilling of lakes, all under slogans of 'decongesting roads', 'beautification of lakes' and 'decreasing of pollution'.

Government's 'development' planning needs to be unplugged from expanding Hyderabad. Pressure of land and stay in the city need to be diverted and diversified for visible changes.

It is high time courts intervened suo moto and took charge of the water bodies in GHMC limits. The Lake Protection Committee constituted in 2010 with 19 governmental agencies as members is a failure on its mandate.

While Water Land Trees Authorities constituted initially in 2004 and subsequently in January 2016 at State, District & Mandal levels have not being convened till date. Thus, water bodies, trees, air and land are victimized and lost its original clean state and status.

Top priority should be that of providing clean water bodies, robust methodologies to capture maximum rain water, clean air, efficient waste handling thru alternative methodologies that do not proliferate solid and liquid waste across miles,

universal education and health support systems, all delivered on a platform of honest and transparent governance. (Sarwath is co-convenor of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) & Malik is a poet and activist)

By Dr Lubna Sarwath & Sanghamitra Malik