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Some decades back, Hyderabad used to be a city of lakes. But following rapid urbanisation and massive construction activities in the city 's main areas, many of these erstwhile lakes got erased from the topography. Ask any one from a conservationist to a bird watcher, to your surprise you would find all of them lamenting over the fact that some of the lakes have just withered away, that too mainly due to manmade follies. The erstwhile Masab tank lake is now an amusement park. "Many lakes in our locality have disappeared over the years following construction activities and encroachment by slums," points out Najam, a long-standing resident of Banjara Hills. Usually lakes form a part of a system. So if one lake gets affected in turn there will be a chain of effects on other interconnected lakes. So it is imperative that something should be done to revive these water bodies given the water shortage. Fortunately, before things could go really out of order, the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) woke up. Now HUDA is firmly into its pet campaign 'Save the lakes'. When the need of the hour is water conservation, keeping in mind the rising demand for water among the growing populace, this 'Save the lakes' campaign assumes major importance.

The person, who has been given charge of this government project of lakes revival and conservation, echoes similar feelings. He readily admits that some of the lakes have just vanished or got polluted either due to unauthorised construction on the lakebed or the inflow of sewage water and waste. "There used to be at least 500 lakes during the Nizam's era, around 50 years back," reveals Bhoopal Reddy, Director, Urban Forestry. According to Reddy, this vital need for conservation stems from two reasons. One is the massive growth in urban areas in the last one decade exerting tremendous pressure on the infrastructure. Secondly to cater to the growing water needs of the urban masses. In addition to unauthorised construction on the lakebeds that account for a major portion of the damage to these water bodies, the lakebeds are sometimes used as dumping ground for solid waste. To avert such possibilities in the future, the government is planning fencing the lake areas. Again the sharp drop in the ground water level has also further created the need for revival of lakes, adds Reddy.

But the whole approach to the conservation of lakes is not simply one-dimensional. Along with the increase in the water supply, the campaign also aims at improving the quality of the water. That is the reason why the authorities have turned their attention to inflow of sewage into the lakes. Now the idea is to pool all the sewage water at one place and after treatment by Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) the same water would be allowed to flow into the lakes. This, in turn, will curb the pollution level in the lakes substantially and make it fit for use. "Fortunately the city lakes do not have any heavy metal problem. Our lakes are definitely less polluted than the lakes in Bangalore," informs a relieved Reddy.

In the first phase of this 'Save the lakes' programme, the authorities have already earmarked 85 lakes out of the estimated 170 large lakes, identified by the Surveys of India map, in the city and the adjoining areas. Out of them, 17 lakes are considered quite critical requiring immediate attention. Right now, the work is in progress at the lakes in Saroornagar, Safilguda, Langer Houz and the secret lake Durgamcheruvu. "In the developed world, water supply is never conceived in isolation. The disposal of water is also closely monitored. The input and out put ratio has to be maintained in order to maintain both the quality and the quantity of the water supply," says Reddy. According to him, if things are properly taken care of, then water from just these 85 lakes would at least meet 11 per cent of the total city's requirement which itself is quite a big chunk.

When the stakes are so high, a piece of legislation alone cannot achieve much. Issues like protection of environment and ecology require popular community support. So the authorities have formed Lake Committees in respective localities to train and motivate people on the importance of Lake Conservation. So far the response from the community has been quite encouraging at least as far as the claims of the officials are concerned. The state government however, has many grandiose plans of keeping lakes as the centre of the theme. Steps are being launched to facilitate economic activities around the lakes like boating and other recreational facilities. But as of now, even though the situation is far from being alarming, the main priority still remains to conserve and revive the affected lakes in the city. Or else it won't be uncommon to hear someone or the other saying: "Hey you know once there was a river but now there is a rock!"

- Rudy Mohan