Hyderabad: While some parts of the State are experiencing heavy flooding, the Yerrakunta Lake in Shaikpet is facing a different kind of problem. This city lake has been cut off from the channels that once fed it with water.
A few years ago, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) transformed Yerrakunta into a recreational spot. However, the lake remains dry and without water. Interestingly, authorities had already declared parts of the Full Tank Level (FTL) and Buffer Zone as encroached over ten years ago. Despite GHMC’s efforts to beautify the area, the lake is now mostly unknown to people who don’t live nearby. Located not far from the IT corridor, the rapid growth of real estate in recent years has put this lake at risk of disappearing entirely.
Yerrakunta Lake, which is located in Shaikpet village within the Shaikpet mandal, has been assigned Lake ID-3902. According to Revenue records, the FTL area of the lake covers 36,672 square meters, and the Buffer Zone covers 8,696 square meters. The lake itself spans more than 7 acres, as recorded in Pahani documents. A GHMC survey conducted in 2013 identified the water spread area of the lake as 3.596 acres and the tank boundary as 8.887 acres, although the FTL was not declared. If you look at the map, you will see that the CC road on the north side and a part of the society and CC road inside it on the northwest are within the buffer zone.
Historically, the Shaikpet Cheruvu lake used to overflow into the Nehr Hussain Shah Wali canal, which was built to channel water flow into the distant Hussain Sagar. However, this canal, now called Shaikpet nala, has become a stream for sewage water. Additionally, the chain of lakes upstream, including Malkam cheruvu, has been disconnected from Shaikpet Lake.
Local residents are urging the authorities to restore the lake to its original size and reconnect it with its feeder channels to rejuvenate the water body. “I don’t think the pipes laid to feed the lake are of any use, as the historically set up canal has lost its link with this lake. It is high time that the authorities take up a re-survey of the lake using historical documents so that the original extent of the lake is known,” said Mohd Habeebuddin, a local heritage activist.
