Hyderabad nature lovers, villagers 'Jog and Plog' along Yadgarpally lake to clean up water body

Hyderabad: Little Lasiya is trying to pick a piece of plastic cover with a pointed stick. She woke up early on Saturday morning and walked down to her village lake, not knowing the larger cause for which she was present at the lake.

On 9 April at around 6:30 a.m, a group of 100 people – trekkers, runners, and nature lovers from the city – gathered at Gandi Cheruvu in Yadgarpally village in Keesara mandal, Medchal Malkajgiri, to clean the lake and its premises.

Organised by Wanderlust, a travel and trekking group in the city, in collaboration with Hyderabad Runners, Manbhum Constructions, and the gram panchayat of Yadgarpally, the cleaning initiative was titled 'Jog and Plog' where people could take a jog around the lake and plog (pick litter while jogging).

Avinash, a young MBA graduate from the village, says the lake has become a popular weekend getaway. "People from the city come here and camp. They drink, smoke ganja, and litter the place. It's good that you appreciate nature, but the moment you leave garbage here, the whole purpose of life is gone," he adds.

Avinash, who was born here, explains how the lake has changed since his childhood. "When I was class 6 or 7, I first saw the lake at full capacity. Every five years, here in Yadgarpally village, people celebrate when the lake becomes full. That festival is called Katta Maisamma Jatara. In 2011, the lake became full and after that, in the last three years, I have seen the river become full twice and flood the nearby areas. Later, I realised this is because plastic and other wastes in the lake do not let water enter the land," he explains.

Pollution, a threat to fishermen's livelihood

Around 47 families in Yadgarpally village depend on fishing for their livelihood. Satyanarayana, the president of the local fishermen's association, says, "Earlier, in a year, the fishes used to grow to around 6-7 kg. Now, they hardly weigh one-two kg." Once their sole means of livelihood, now the fishermen are hardly able to make both ends meet.

Also, the villagers explain how peacocks in the area have stopped coming to the lake to drink water because they are scared of people.

Indira Penubolu from Wanderlust says they discovered this place almost a year ago during one of their trekking events. "We found this beautiful lake. After that, we visited here thrice, but each time we observed that the lake was getting more polluted every time we saw it. We decided that something should be done about it. That's why we planned this event," she says.

She adds, "When they see us picking up waste, we hope they stop throwing them."

The group is also planning to put up 'Don't litter' boards on the lake premises.

"Hyderabad is a city of lakes, rocks…We have a treasure chest around us but we don't realise it," says Indira, who is also a member of Hyderabad Runners.

After the cleaning programme, two truckloads of garbage were collected from the area. Mallesh Yadav, the sarpanch of Yadgarpally village, said his village will whole heartedly support the programme and that will make all villagers aware about the advantages of keeping the lake and its premises clean. "It is good to see teams coming to clean the plastic waste in Gandi Cheruvu. Being a tourist place, the place has been spoiled by humans polluting the environment at the Cheruvu. Gandi Cheruvu, which has a great history, is being spoilt by many. We hope to see that no visitors throw plastic waste and save the lake," he said.

The villagers plan to take this initiative forward and conduct cleaning programmes once or twice every month. They are also planning to appoint a security guard at the lake to keep a check on urban polluters.