Cases on protection of lakes: Saroor Nagar lake, Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad has a glorious tradition of tanks built by its ruling dynasties. It owes its many lakes—that stored and supplied water for drinking and irrigation to its citizens—to the Qutab Shahi (1564-1724AD) and the Asaf Jahi (1724-1948 AD) rulers. The first of these was Hussain Sagar, built on a tributary of the Musi River in 1562. Later, more tanks were constructed to handle floods and to cater to the city’ growing population. The city of lakes had about 532 tanks and kuntas (percolation tanks) within a radius of 35 kilometers. Thus the science of rainwater harvesting using water bodies is ancient in this region. However the recent trends had been that of systematic killing of lakes. Tanks (lakes) are getting converted into residential colonies with the consent of government. For instance, a slum sprang up at Mir Jalap tank and an affluent residential colony came up in the lakebed of Masaabcheruvu. But, it was the destruction of Saroornagar that led to the genesis of ‘Save Lakes Campaign” by PRAKRITI, a group of environmentalists, in September 1999. Originally spread over 65 ha the lake is reduced to 25.41 ha at present. Denudation of the catchment area and discharge of untreated sewage into the Saroornagar Lake were endangering its very existence.