Rituals, waste harming lakes
The lake in front of the Kowkur Dargah at Bollarum has some religious significance with people taking a ritual bath in it. Over the years, however, the lake has become a garbage dump covered by waterhyacinth and littered with old clothes. Believers say that after taking a bath in the lake they must discard their old clothes and walk out in new ones.
Md Shafiuddin, the guardian of the dargah, says that though he has appealed to the GHMC, “they never paid any heed to our woes.”
Shekhar Reddy, in charge of lakes in the GHMC, said, “We are trying to preserve the lakes, but maintenance will take time as a lot of drainage water flows into them. This inflow should be stopped and diverted to avoid further polluting of lakes.”
The Kowkur Lake shares the same fate as RK Puram Lake and Bandacheruvu Lake.
“The RK Puram Lake was a beautiful spot once but now, due to negligence of the authorities, a lot of hyacinth is spread all over and water is hardly seen,” said Robert D’Souza a resident of GK Colony.
Lubna Sarawat of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) blames the GHMC. “The GHMC is responsible for destroying the lakes. Solid and liquid waste is being dumped in the catchment areas. There is no proper planning by authorities to save our lakes. A total of `93 crore was sanctioned to maintain lakes. But there is no progress till now.”
DRAINAGE water that is allowed to flow into lakes has been polluting them with activists blaming the GHMC for neglect.
DEVOTEES AT Kowkur Lake take a ritual bath in the water and rules say they must leave their old clothes behind