Govt to spend Rs.288 cr for conservation of lakes in Hyderabad: KTR

Municipal administration minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said the government has taken up protection and conservation of lakes in the Hyderabad metropolitan region. There are 3,130 lakes under Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) limits, of which 185 lakes are located in Greater Hyderabad limits.

“In phase I, 40 lakes — 20 each in GHMC and HMDA limits — have been taken up for conservation and beautification. An amount of Rs.288 crore is being spent on 20 lakes in GHMC limits. In some lakes such as Durgam Chervu, Malkaram and Nallagandla Chervu, beautification work has been taken by some corporates under social responsibility programmes,” KTR told the Assembly during question hour.

Admitting that many lakes are polluted due to inflow of domestic and industrial waste, KTR said government plans to add 60 Sewerage Treatment Plants along the Musi. While some would be taken up under Public Private Partnership, others would be constructed by the state. “Water hyacinth problem will be



resolved if domestic sewage is stopped from flowing into lakes,” he said.

The minister said the government planned to empty Hussainsagar lake and fill it with fresh water, but the plan could not be implemented due to technical issues like bursting of a pipeline on NTR Marg in November 2017, which is being rectified now.

MLAs K Laxman, NVSS Prabhakar, Madharam Krishna Rao, K Vivekanand and Mohd Pasha Quadri had raised the issues of encroachments of lakes and their beautification. KTR said there were legal disputes on lake bed lands and the government is fighting 148 cases. Of the total, 39 were disposed of recently and rest 109 cases are pending with the High Court and Lokayukta.

“To encourage land owners to give up their land on the lake bed, the government is offering 200% Transferrable Development Rights (TDR) to the owners. The TDRs can be utilized to get more built up space for construction or can sell it elsewhere in the city,” KTR added.