HMDA list misses out Nizam lakes

By Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

Lakes dug during the Nizam era which have now turned into ponds are missing from the list drawn up by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority. The HMDA, incidentally, does not even list the Hussainsagar, according to its information provided to an RTI query. Talaab-e-Maa Sahaba is reduced to a pond in Chacha Nehru Park in Masab Tank, from which the area takes its name. This lake is missing from the HMDA list as is the historic lake now a pond in Jalagam Vengal Rao Park.

According to Dr Lubna Sarwath, co-convenor, Save Our Urban Lakes, the NGO’s study revealed  that the 455 lakes notified inside the Outer Ring Road by the HMDA was understated by around 300 lakes. “The water body inside Vengal Rao Park and the one inside Masab Tank are no longer considered water bodies by the HMDA. The Talaab-e-Maa Sahaba is completely dry and land-filled.  The Jalagam Vengal Rao Park at Banjara Hills encircles a pond which was once a lake,” she said.

“These two ponds which were huge lakes do not find a place in the 169 lakes that the GHMC claims are under its jurisdiction, and they are not in the HMDA database,” Dr Sarwath said. She noted that the 450-year-old Hussainsagar does not find mention in the list of 169 lakes obtained under the RTI query. The Lake Protection Committee says that the Hussainsagar falls under GHMC jurisdiction.

Information obtained by an RTI query reveals that a Rs 100-crore fund was proposed for the ‘restoration of glory of Hussainsagar’ in January 2015. The full tank levels of all lakes inside the ORR have been uploaded on the HMDA website except that of the Hussainsagar. The GHMC wrote to the HMDA in February 2015 that RV Consultants had completed a detailed survey of Hussainsagar. The RTI reply obtained in November 2015 from the GHMC says  the FTL map and Cadastal map of Hussainsagar are under process.