Media Coveragae

Sakshi news paper published about the activities of SaciWATERs taken up in Ravirala, Maheshwaram Mandal, Hyderabad, India.

Construction of a Water Storage Tank

The water supply in the village of Ravirala is very erratic. The situation is worse as this supply is dependent on the electricity. People tend to store water and use it at the time of necessity. However, the students at the school are vulnerable to this situation. After the mid day lunch, these students do not have water to wash their hands as there is no power during that time. Hence, SaciWATERs felt the need of constructing a storage tank in the school premises. With the help of Ravirala Water User Association, SaciWATERs facilitated the construction of the water storage tank. The school head master conveyed his hearty thanks to both SaciWATERs and Ravirala Water User Association for the noble work. The school children expressed their gratitude towards SaciWATERs for providing such an important facility in their school.

A Roundtable on ‘Groundwater Quality in Hyderabad’

 ‘Joint Action for water’ (JAW), an initiative implemented by Chetana Society and supported by Water Aid India, is aiming to build a vibrant citizen based platform around civic issues with core focus on drinking water and sanitation in Hyderabad.

In this regard, JAW organised a roundtable on ‘Groundwater quality in Hyderabad’ on the 23rd May 2012 at Sundarryya Vignan Kendram, Baghlingampally Hyderabad. Senior Management from AP Ground Water Department, Water Board, Chief Analysts from IPM, Microbiologists from I.H.S, experts Mr. B.V.Subba Rao, Mr. Ananth M, and various NGO representatives participated in this roundtable. Ms. Shaili and Mr. Raj Kumar represented SaciWATERs at the roundtable.

Urban Lakes - Problems, Challenges and Solutions

A half a day session was conducted on “Urban Lakes - Problems, Challenges and Solutions” by Mr. B. V. Subba Rao at Maheshwari Complex on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Mr. Rao is one of the founder members of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) and the current president of Centre for Resource Education. He works extensively on saving and protection of lakes.

After the introduction of the participants, the presentation started with an insight into the coverage area of urban lakes in Hyderabad in the year 1920. For a comprehensive understanding of the urban lakes, Mr. Rao delved into technical definitions of concepts like Watershed, Catchment Zone, Lake Basin, etc. He also dealt with the aspects of lake like Foreshore, Full Tank Level (FTL), Littoral zone, Dead Storage, Bund, etc that drew a complete picture of what a lake comprises. 

Impact of Urbanization:

Mr. Rao gave a detailed account of how the process of urbanization has affected the sustenance of lakes.  He highlighted the fact that Urbanisation not only disturbs the natural watersheds but also induces dynamic changes in local hydrological regime and that Urbanization has direct bearing on lakes / water bodies. There was a focus on the fact that induced changes like increased rain /storm water runoff, localized urban flash floods, inundations, rapid siltation of lakes, loss of rain water retention capacity in lakes, generation of surplus flood waters, depleting ground water levels had a tremendous effect on urban lakes. The factors inducing the change were identified to be

• Lack of knowledge and understanding urban watersheds & hydrology
• Increased build up areas – pavements, parking areas, concrete structures.
• Lack of grass padded zones
• Loss of open green spaces.
• Inadequate tree cover.
• Encroachments on natural nalas / streams and lake bed areas.
• Violation of urban zoning regulations
• Highly disturbed natural watersheds

The drastic difference between the pre-urban and post-urban conditions of water infiltration, retention and evaporation were graphically shown. Mr Rao was of the opinion that the urban lakes were threatened by certain factors like physical encroachments on foreshore and lake bed areas. Land near the lake foreshore attracts real estate business for its scenic value; leading direct discharge of untreated municipal and industrial waste waters. This results in loss of rain water storage capacity and water quality.

Several interesting photographs were a part of the presentation and they gave the audience a clear picture on lake encroachment and also highlighted the diabolic state of lakes.  A fundamental question was raised about how the degradation of the quality and quantity of lakes is a part of sustainable urban development.

By using the digital elevation model, Mr. Rao threw light on the fact that industrial effluents led to the contamination of lakes. He further talked about the fact that housing colonies are being constructed in dried lakes. According to the govt rules, if the lakes do not receive water for three consecutive years and the lake remains dry, then the lake area comes under the jurisdiction of the Revenue Department. Here, Mr. Rao alleges that is this process is a flaw as one cannot come to conclusions about the natural water cycle. An example was cited showing the flooding of houses in Rajiv Nagar which were constructed in Maisamma Tank.

There was also an emphasis on the social dimension of the lakes. In the earlier days, the lake with clean water was a source of livelihood for the dhobis. However, the dhobis are deprived of livelihoods because of policy issues and due to the deterioration of the water quality in the lakes.

Mr. Rao is of the view that lake protection and restoration should be a part of urban planning. Unregulated & unplanned urban development would contribute to severe consequences like:

• Environmental degradation 
• Alters local weather conditions
• Induces changes in local hydrology
• Also, contributes towards Global Climate Change.

He is of the impression that climate change is a two way process which induces changes in hydrological cycle and also has an impact on rain fall pattern. Therefore, there is a reduction in the number of rainy days. The rainfall is of short duration with high intensity. In consequence to this, high volume of storm water is generated leaving no scope for ground water recharging making cities more vulnerable to the impacts of the climate change.

Challenges faced:

• Policy to integrate city master planning & development with lake conservation
• Policy document on urban lakes.
• Motivation citizens and ensuring their active participation
• Ensuring cost effective lake restoration
• Ensuring transparency
• Creating a lake authority.

He also suggests on bringing an Ordinance to check encroachments, as done by the Canadian Government.

The need for protection and conservation of Lakes:

Major portion of surface fresh water is available in lakes / ponds, next to ground water aquifers. The various ecological functions of the lake are:

• Fresh Water Sources.
• Regulates micro-climatic conditions
• Keeps local weather conditions in balance
• Habitat for local and migratory birds
• Supports bio diversity within concrete jungle
• Ecological indicator
• Facilitates recharging of ground water sources
• Regulates flood waters – urban flood mitigating structure.

It also

•  Promotes water sports
• Supports water based livelihoods
• Recreation centers

Further there are several challenges to the conventional approaches that need to be addressed. There has been a suggestion that the usage of nualgae helps in rejuvenating the waste water.

Another suggestion was that water from waste treatment plants could be reused for flushing the toilets. In order to reduce severe pollution loads from heavy industries, these industries could have ETPs in their own premises.

  

Another suggestion made was the usage of sludge to make pavement bricks.

Conclusions

• Lake conservation plans are to be integral components of city master planning & development.
• Governance issues are to be addressed.
• There should be construction guidelines for foreshore and downstream structures.
• All the automobile washing centers should place oil – water filters; separated oil should be sent for safe disposal.
• Motivate & encourage citizens to use environmental friendly “Detergents”.
  The session concluded with stressing upon the fact that “Lake is nobody’s baby, but it should be everybody’s concern”.

53 acres of an important resource, Now a village anguish

Peerancheru, a village located close to the Outer Ring Road has had a massive real estate boom. But the pitiable state of the Peerancheru lake has masked the blessing of development in this region........

Photograph 1

As I was entering into the village, I really wondered if this place can still be called a village. I was welcomed by high rise buildings; and also majority of the houses were more than two floors. I noticed that these buildings were all new, with latest designs mostly built in the last two years (Photograph 1). It was very evident that small, old styled houses were slowly being replaced by these modern, chic houses. For once, I thought that I was in a place just like any other urban colony. But then, a hard reality struck to me, when I saw a man  carrying a water vessel over his shoulder walking towards his home. I also noticed a motorcyclist carrying an Ibibo water can. As I slowly moved to the centre of village, I saw women carrying these heavy water vessels and walking long distances!

Photograph 2

At the Gram Panchayat, we noticed two community water tanks. One tank stored the fresh water, while the other one stored the bore water (salt water). The bore water tank has an altitude of around 30 feet. Around the fresh water tank, I spotted a group of women (Photograph 2) who had gathered to collect water. It was a pitiable sight to see a woman aged around 60 years carrying water to her home. With such good housing facilities, I was inquisitive to know their water situation. On enquiring, I was shocked to hear that these people are supplied with drinking water once in a week, once in twenty days or even once in a month! And hence, most often, they are left with no choice but to consume salt water, when they are devoid of the fresh water. Some households have direct pipelines to their homes; supplying both freshwater as well as the salt water. But, these women do not depend upon the pipeline, since they are very well aware of the erratic supply of water. Everyday, these women spend about one and a half hours in transporting this precious resource to their homes.

Photograph 3

Photograph 4

Finally after seeing the ground reality, it was time for us to interact with few of the officials & the village representatives. Peerancheru lake is a very precious resource for the people of this village. Only if this lake is full, the bore wells are fully recharged and water problems in the village will be solved. But, it has been more than 20 years since the lake has been used as a source of drinking water. The villagers felt very nostalgic remembering those days when the lake was a vital part of their lives. It served as a source of drinking water as well as other domestic purposes. Down the lane, few communities also had been benefitted from the lake, where fishes were cultivated as a livelihood option. But now, the situation has changed so drastically over the years that this lake can’t even be used for washing clothes (Photograph 4). Fishing activity could not be continued as the fishes could not survive the highly polluted water. Moreover, it was also very dangerous for humans to consume fish grown in such toxic water.

There are three reasons for the pollution of the lake.

1.  The Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA) releases its effluents into the lake (Photograph 5);
2. The waste from the slaughter houses is being dumped in the vicinity of the lake (Photograph 6). In the process, the runoff from this waste is leading to the contamination of the water.
3.  The third and the most important reason for the pollution of the lake is the release of effluents from a big private hospital – Shadan Hospital

Photograph 5

Photograph 6

The villagers claimed that even after repeated complaints and pleadings to the concerned government departments/officials regarding the release of the effluents into the lake, no action has been taken place.  Adding to the plight is the dumping of waste in the periphery of the lake by the slaughter houses. The waste is also dumped in an area which is just above the drinking water pipeline. In the past, the drinking water got contaminated with the leachate from the waste. The pipeline had to be repaired and the drinking water supply had to be halted for few days. Huge waste is also dumped along the circumference of the lake. This waste is also deposited in the open effluent discharge pipeline (APPA Effluent pipeline), thus carrying the waste with its effluent stream into the lake (Photograph 7). This runoff is the reason for increase in the turbidity, odour as well as the BOD in the lake.

Photograph 7

Photograph 8

The biggest source of pollution in the lake is the Shadan Hospital which releases its chemical effluents into the lake. On careful observations, we can clearly identify the oil-water interface on the surface of the water (Photograph 8). The villagers have been fighting over this issue for quite a few years. These people have left no stone unturned to meet bureaucrats, officials, representatives, etc, pleading for protecting the lake from the noxious effluents. The representatives of the village articulate that the hospital has big political backup due to which all their pleas and complaints have been turned down leaving them extremely helpless and vulnerable. 

 

However, some citizens of the village are still hopeful of justice in their favour, some day in the future. It’s good to see these brave people fighting against highly influential people for their basic rights to clean waters.