'Lake Man of India' Anand Malligavad shares plans to revive 10-20 Hyderabad lakes by 2025

Hyderabad: “By 2025, around 10-20 lakes in Hyderabad will be rejuvenated,” said the ‘Lake Man of India’ Anand Malligavad on Friday. He accompanied the five-member HYDRAA delegation's review of development works at the Doddathoguru Lake in Bengaluru.

After inspecting the lake, Anand shared his insights on the plans to rejuvenate water bodies in Hyderabad.

‘Most lakes in Hyderabad encroached’

He pointed out that most lakes in Hyderabad have been encroached upon and underscored the need to revive them to prevent the city from flooding during the monsoon and untimely rains.

The ‘Lake Man of India’ said that most lakes have illegal occupation leading to their boundaries being reduced causing flooding in the city.

“In the last three years, I rejuvenated a few lakes in Hyderabad. I am aware of the topography and catchment of Hyderabad lakes. Like other cities, most of the lakes in Hyderabad are under encroachment and untreated water is entering the lakes.

‘Hyderabad city is lacking drinking water’

“After South Africa’s Cape Town, Bengaluru was supposed to be the second Zero Water City, followed by Hyderabad,” he said. He said that the groundwater levels are also depleting due to encroachments resulting in the supply of sub-standard water.

“Parts of Hyderabad city lack drinking water being gathered from various sources including rivers. However, in Hyderabad there are many lakes which can be cleaned and rejuvenated on the lines of lakes in Bengaluru so that the groundwater situation can be improved to create a better microclimate,” Anand said.

Telangana’s plans for HYDRAA

HYDRAA is the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency formed by the Telangana government for various protection and maintenance measures of the city.

In a first-of-its-kind in the country, the Telangana Government led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy constituted the HYDRAA, which aims to be a revolution in clearing lake encroachments and reviving the entire ecosystem by storing rainwater.

‘Demolishing encroachments can prevent flooding of the city during monsoon’

Anand Malligavad said that while a section of residents may suffer due to the demolition of the unauthorised structures on the FTL or buffer zone of the lakes, there are many advantages to clearing encroachments and preventing flooding during the monsoon.

For instance, in 2019, the entire Hyderabad was submerged due to flooding because of encroachments of water bodies and stormwater drains. He commended the efforts of CM Revanth Reddy for constituting HYDRAA and said the same should be emulated across the country to save and revive the water bodies from encroachments.