Now, guards armed with baton and whistle to protect City lakes

HYDERABAD: In a novel move to protect lakes in the State capital, the State government has decided to appoint uniformed personnel who will stand guard at each lake by holding a baton and a whistle. These guards will protect the water bodies from being encroached, besides ensuring that garbage is not dumped in and around lakes. In the first phase, 150 guards will be deployed at some identified lakes in Hyderabad.
Apart from this, the State government also took a decision to appoint an IAS officer of Joint Commissioner rank in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to exclusively monitor steps being taken to conserve water bodies in and around the city.

This was disclosed by Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao during the Question Hour in the State Assembly here on Wednesday. Replying to questions on the issues related to conservation of lakes, Rama Rao said the government had taken up cleaning of 20 lakes in the GHMC area by allocating `287 crore.

Informing that there are 185 water bodies in GHMC limits and another 3,132 lakes and ponds fall under the HMDA limits, he said that another 20 lakes inside the Outer Ring Road (ORR) limits also would be restored soon. Three water bodies- Durgam Cheruvu, Malkam Cheruvu and Nallagandla Cheruvu — are being developed with the help of private companies at a total cost of `40 crore, he added.

KTR said he would be holding a meeting with city MLAs in the next few days to elicit their views on how to conserve lakes in the city.

Dying water bodies
60 sewerage treatment plants to be set up in city
The city produces about 1,400 MLD of sewerage, but existing STPs can treat up to only 700 MLD
Of the 1,234 industrial units discharging waste into the city, 100 will be shifted outside the ORR within next three months.
Another 400 industries will be moved to Pharma City
All polluting industries have been asked to install Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems

‘Will fight to get water from Pattiseema’
Alleging that the Centre is not helping the State in getting its rightful share in Krishna river, Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao said the State would continue its fight to get 45 TMC of water from Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh government.Through this project, which interlinked River Godavari to River Krishna, the AP government had diverted 100 TMC of Krishna water to Godavari, the minister claimed the TS government would continue its efforts before Brijesh Kumar Tribunal.