Merely a month-and-a-half after severely encroached lakes wreaked havoc on the city by causing destructive floods under the impact of torrential rains, work is on in full swing to fill up a lake in Kondapur area.
Tractor loads of earth and debris are being brought under the cover of the darkness, to be dumped into Mazid Banda Cheruvu, which is a notified lake within the GHMC’s purview. Already work for construction of apartment complexes has started at the location.
Residents of the nearby localities have said that the water body, earlier in diminutive size, has received good amount of water during the recent rains, and expanded in its extent.
“We have been seeing this lake for the last five years. It has received fresh inflows during the rains, and is looking better. The attempts to fill it up have reached a feverish pitch during the last few weeks, probably due to the fear that the rising water spread could lead to loss of land. Tractors are plying continuously every night, carrying earth and debris,” said a resident under the condition of anonymity.
A newly laid link road by the GHMC has added real estate premium, as the lake is now ensconced between two major thoroughfares -- one is Mazid Banda main road which connects to the major stretch of the Botanical Gardens, and another is the newly laid road connecting it to the Gachibowli-Miyapur main road.
Heaps of sand, boulders and debris could be seen at the location, with pre-construction activity briskly proceeding, while Irrigation Department officials who ought to protect the lake, are looking away.
Mazid Banda lake was notified in 2014. As per the Full Tank Level demarcated in the map, the lake’s extent is 12.52 acres, and cadastral map shows that the entire lake bed, divided into agricultural plots, is privately owned.
As per the Irrigation records, the lake receives its inflows upstream from Kudi Kunta on one side, and Pochamma Kunta on the other, both within Kondapur village limits.
Excess water from the lake flows into Gopi Cheruvu downstream. All its inflow and outflow channels have been heavily constructed and blocked. Google Earth images since 2003 show that the lake had been rarely ever filled to its FTL.
Lake activist and Socialist Party (India)’s State General Secretary & Spokesperson Lubna Sarwath alleged that attempts to encroach the lake had the stamp of approval from GHMC authorities who had issued building permission within the lake.
She wrote to the National Green Tribunal praying for restoration of the lake to its maximum water spread.
However, GHMC Town Planning officials have informed that building permission was denied based on the remarks by the Irrigation department. Following this, a case has been filed in the High Court by the owners of the lake bed lands, challenging the notification by HMDA.
Their contention is that there was no lake in the area as per the Revenue records.
