The placid waters of the Hussain Sagar Lake connecting the twin -cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad may never be the same again!
The Telangana Government has decided to drain the water out of the huge lake spread over 5.7 square kilometers and clear the sediment and muck and fresh it up, while constructing skyscrapers in the adjoining Sanjeeviah Park - spread over 100 acres in the first phase at 40 spots around the lake. The government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore for diverting sewerage flowing into the lake.
As summer sets in early next year, the Government plans to drain the water, rid it of pollutants, as citizens are in for missing quiet moments on the Tank Bund, the regettas, boat rides to the Buddha Statue and long walks, as the entire operation is bound to raise quiet a nauseating stink till the operation is complete.
Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali built the lake in 1562 during the rule of Ibrahim Quli Qutab Shah, that was fed from the River Musi. A monolithic statue of Buddha came up during 1992 in the middle of the lake. At a maximum depth of 32 feet, it is the pollutants from the growing City that took it's toll on the lake, that continues to bear the brunt. - Pictures and Texts by P. V. Sivakumar