CS files Secretariat raze report
Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar has in a report to National Green Tribunal (NGT) refuted all allegations made by a city-based activist on demolition of the erstwhile secretariat buildings.
Among various allegations, the activist had alleged that debris and construction waste from the secretariat had been dumped into the lake.
In the report on Wednesday, the chief secretary pointed out: “The total C&D (construction and demolition) waste generated is 1,47,469.02 tonnes. It has been shifted to the processing facility located at Jeedimetla.”
Responding to the complaint of solid waste management along the lake, the NGT has been informed that 5,978 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste (MSW) is collected through 100 per cent door-to-door collection. “‘No solid waste or garbage is dumped into water bodies. GHMC has integrated MSW processing facility of 6,500 TPD, including Waste to Energy Plant of capacity of 19.8 MW, at Jawaharnagar in Medchal-Malkajgiri District,” the report clarified.
The activist had said that Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has once again called a global tender for bioremediation of Hussainsagar Lake, without dealing with the pollution at source. As a result, no fruitful result can be seen.
In this regard, the chief secretary’s report said: “HMDA has entrusted the work of bioremediation of Hussainsagar Lake to Matrix Environment Inc initially for six months at an amount of Rs. 1.52 crore by calling global tenders. The agency executed the work for six months from March to August 2020. During the intervention period, there had been significant and consistent improvement in water quality of the lake. Since the agreement period ended in August 2020, a new RFP has been prepared for bioremediation of Hussainsagar Lake and global tenders invited. An agreement has been concluded with lowest quoted NACOF for a value of Rs.1,04,99,950,” the report stated.
The chief secretary maintained that all allegations made are baseless. The report maintained that Hussainsagar Lake has two surplus weirs and six sluices. Flood water can be directly discharged through surplus weirs, whereas sluices are choked up due to nonmaintenance and nonoperation since a long time. To facilitate repairs of sluices as well as weirs, additional discharges are being released through the weir into the natural surplus course. Herein, the applicant has assumed that Government of Telangana is dewatering and de-silting Hussainsagar Lake. There has been a marginal increase in flow of water from above sluices due to repair of sluices. The said flow of water has already been curtailed after completion of repair works, the report added.