Anandbagh Lake’s works crawling at a snail’s pace

Hyderabad : The restoration works of Anandbagh Lake have been progressing at a snail's pace for the past two years, resulting in various issues for locals residing in the surrounding areas. These issues include an increase in mosquito menace, the lake being covered with water hyacinth, and during rains, sewage water along with lake water entering the lanes and houses.

According to sources, four years ago, under Mission Kakatiya Phase IV, works were sanctioned in two phases. Two years ago, the works started, but it has been progressing at a very slow pace. The Irrigation department has taken up the development work of Banda Cheruvu/Anandbagh Lake. The reason for halting the works, as cited by concerned officials, is the non-availability of labour and funds. Although it was planned to develop the lake similarly to Durgam Cheruvu, this seems to be only on paper. Despite the works starting long ago, the reality is that only five per cent of the work has been completed.

Locals pointed out that they do not know the reason why the works are progressing at a slow pace. Additionally, the entire pathway near the lake has been dug up, and for the past year, pipelines have been placed haphazardly, causing hardship for locals. The lake area, which originally extended up to 132 acres, has now shrunk to only 60 acres due to encroachment. The entire lake is covered with seaweed, and hardly any water is left. Currently, the surrounding area of the lake has become a garbage dump yard, increasing the mosquito menace.

“The lake development work started a few years ago to address rainwater flooding in colonies around the lake by widening the nalas. However, the project seems to be a failure, as there has been no progress. Due to the delay, locals are facing difficulties, especially during rains, as the entire lanes and houses are flooded with water. It would be better if officials took up the works and completed them soon,” said Srinivasam, a local.

"With no progress on the renovation works, the lake is slowly deteriorating. Officials are giving us false hopes, claiming that the work will be completed soon, but with no progress made, we locals are skeptical about whether the lake will ever undergo the planned enhancements. Several times, we have brought this issue to the attention of the concerned officials and urged them to fence the lake and improve the pathway near it. The entire lane is in a very pathetic condition," said Johnson, another local of Anandbagh.