Waste worries pile up, Hyderabad lakes turn dumping yards

Uttara Varma | TNN | Apr 14, 2020, 08:03 IST

The condition of city lakes is only deteriorating amid the lockdown as vigilance is minimal

HYDERABAD: At a time when sanitation should be the topmost priority, trash is being dumped incessantly near lakes across the city. A few concerned citizens have alerted activists and environmentalists regarding the issue.
“People have been dumping bags full of food waste, including meat and fish, at the Kudikunta lake, which has been emanating an unbearable stench,” said Kalpana Ramesh, who has been working on the revival of the water body. “The dumping had stopped for sometime, but has started again,” she added.
Ramesh said that although drain screens had been put in place to manage the dumping, it is ‘social fencing’ — neighbourhood communities protecting the lake — that is key to the scenario.
On the other side of town at Raa Cheruvu in Boduppal, a similar situation was noticed. Prashant Mamidala, an environmentalist, said, “With the coronavirus outbreak on everyone’s mind, lakes have once again become a garbage dump with no one to take care of them. It is startling that people have decided to not live a hygienic life. If this is the case, not just corona many more viruses will haunt us.”
At the Neknampur lake, activists say that food meant to be distributed among the poor is being thrown at the lake bed. “Packets of food are lying near the water body. Some of the food appears rotten,” said a resident on condition of anonymity.