From Garbage Dump to Gathering Place: Three Hyderabad Lakes Near New Life

For years, Sunnam Cheruvu was the sort of place Hyderabad had learned to look away from — a shrunken, sewage-choked water body buried under garbage and encroachments. By the end of September, it is expected to be reborn as a 30-acre lake, reportedly inaugurated by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. And it is not alone. The Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) says three of its lake restoration projects across the city are now nearing completion.

From dump to drawcard

The turnaround at Sunnam Cheruvu, located at Guttala Begumpet close to Ayyappa Society, is striking. A statement from HYDRAA said the lake had been reduced to a 13-acre sewage and garbage dump, with the rest of its area encroached. It has now been expanded back to its original extent of 30 acres.

The restoration was anything but simple. The statement recalled earlier thwarted attempts to draw groundwater from the lake bed for supply to hostels, schools and colleges — plans abandoned after water samples revealed a higher concentration of heavy metals. HYDRAA has since developed the lake's inlets and outlets and beautified its surroundings, adding a viewpoint perched over natural rock formations. The agency said it had to wade through many legal wrangles to complete the project, but the payoff is already visible: thousands of people now visit the lake for walking and recreation.

Nalla Cheruvu breathes again

Over in Uppal, Nalla Cheruvu may be thrown open to the public in two months' time. Severe encroachments had squeezed the lake to 52.3 acres, turning it into a receptacle for sewage and industrial effluents from surrounding areas. HYDRAA says it has removed the encroachments and expanded the lake to 67.31 acres. Along with strengthening the bund and developing inlet and outlet channels, a 2.4-kilometre walking track now rings the water.

Thammidikunta's long cleanup

The third project is Thammidikunta, a 30-acre lake with a familiar name — it was from here that the famous N-Convention was partly demolished by HYDRAA two years ago. The agency said huge amounts of bio-waste have been removed from the lake, apart from sewage water, and orders have been issued to shift the plastic waste segregation units operating close by. HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath inspected both Sunnam Cheruvu and Thammidikunta on Saturday to review their progress.