As city was battling rains and floods in other parts of the city over the fortnight, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation turned the Hakimpet Kunta between Filmnagar and Shaikpet into a dumping site for waste.
“We are dumping only temporarily. We will move it to the processing site later,” said an assistant engineer of GHMC when asked about the dumping activity.
While the dumping activity was ongoing, water was flowing out from the other side of the lake forcing residents of Sabza Colony and other areas to build their own temporary embankments to keep the water out. It was the continuous water mixed with sewage from this lake that added to the flood agony of residents of Toli Chowki.
Waste, flood debris, sand and waste that had accumulated in Toli Chowki area was brought in vehicles with unmarked/masked numbers and dumped at the site. “We are just following orders. We cannot do anything,” said a vehicle driver who brought the debris from Galaxy Cinema in Toli Chowki, when asked about the dumping into the lake.
The walled railing on the south-eastern side of the lake has been torn down to facilitate dumping.
The area is still known as Shaikpet Nala and was part of the lake and channel network to prevent flooding in the area. “The reduction in carrying capacity of these lakes by dumping is one of the main reasons for frequent flooding in that area,” says Lubna Sarwath of Save Our Urban Lakes.
The shrinkage of the lake is also being blamed for the flooding in Nadeem Colony. “The waters are not receding in our area as the water from all the upstream lakes are still flowing here. If the Hakimpet Kunta was not shrunk, the flood would not have lasted so long,” said Dastgir, a resident of Nadeem Colony. Hakimpet Kunta (id number 3903) is among the lakes identified for conservation by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority in 2014.
But despite the official action, which included notification of Full Tank Level boundaries and revenue survey numbers, nothing seems to have changed on the ground for protection of the lake.