Beautification works also encroach on lakes: TRS MP

HYDERABAD: TRS MP Chevella Konda Vishweshwar Reddy on Sunday came down heavily on the state government for encroaching lakes by building side-walks, gardens etc around lakes. These processes, which are part of beautification, also encroach on lakes, he said.“The biggest mistake our government has done is building Ganesh idol immersion points (mini ponds) with Rs 2 crore investment, which I am against,” he said, while speaking on measures to revive lakes in the city. 

He added, “Maintenance of infrastructure is tough and so the community should come forward and create public-private partnership (PPP).” Any construction of infrastructure like roads would only require more manpower to maintain it, leading to encroachment. Vishveshwar Reddy along with BV Subba Rao, Shakeel Ahmed, Chief Scientist at CSIR -NGRI, and CS Pradeep Kumar, founder and CEO of Symbio Greentech, were speaking at TEDx Hyderabad Salon, supported by Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHI).

Community participation can also be in the form of employing locals, said BV Subba Rao. “Employment can be created by employing fishermen community or the washermen community in maintaining the lakes. Even if 10 are employed at each lake, imagine the kind of employment that can be created,” he said. “The blossoming of a lily flower in the lake is a huge motivation for many communities to be engaged,” Reddy said. Kalpana Ramesh, founder of Live the Lakes, said that water for Hyderabad comes from 200 km away — Krishna and Godavari river.

“It is time to revive the city lakes by groundwater mapping and other techniques, otherwise the lakes will turn hazardous,” she said.  The event saw participation from community members who were into lake restoration processes in their respective areas, mostly in the West Zone of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).