In continuation to the earlier posting on the key area of Lake Conservation, i shown keen interest to support the issue and plan of conservation of Hussain Sagar Lake. It was well known to the people Twin Cities as a fresh water lake and later turned into a lake of pollutants. The process of research and conservation is going on to get back its olden glory. Still much needs to be done. One of the key component of extent of pollution to the groundwater is missing in the action plan. With the use of Geophysical Tools, a study has been made and submitted to the CSE. The abstract of the same is furnished below as:
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CONSERVATION OF HUSSAIN SAGAR LAKE – NEED OF
ASSESSING GROUNDWATER POLLUTION, HYDERABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH.
Lakshmi Narayana Nagisetty
Director
Bhuvanesh Kumar N
Volunteer
Geo Rehabilitation Centre
Hyderabad. A.P.
Cell: 09392445973.
ABSTRACT
Key words: Groundwater,
Pollution, Resistivity, Quality, Urbanization, Industrialization, Encroachment,
Scanning, Evaluation, Monitoring.
The conservation process of
Hussain Sagar Lake lacks in understanding the pollution caused to the
groundwater in general and particularly in it’s downstream. The objective of the proposed study includes:
collection of water samples from the wells existing around the lake and
particularly in the downstream, assessment of the water quality, geophysical
scanning for mapping of fractures & leakages, suggestions for drilling of
observatory bore wells, scanning of boreholes with geophysical tools, consolidation
of data, and additional dimension to the ongoing conservation action plan.
Hussain Sagar Lake has been
developed and used for catering the irrigation and drinking needs of the people
of Hyderabad and Secundrabad known as “Twin Cities” up to 1930. Later on, it
has lost its purpose and shape in view of: loss of catchment due to
encroachment in view of urbanization, development of industries, poor recharge
or flow of rainwater from the catchment, flow of effluents through existing
channels which later turned into nalas, dumping of sewerage and other domestic
& industrial waste, contamination due to immersion of religious idols and other
man made discharges.
As the severity of pollution has exceeded
the limit of tolerance, people brainstormed the issue to get out of the present
unpleasant water and its surrounding environment. In this direction, a project
titled “Hussain Sagar Lake and Catchment Improvement Project” has been
initiated with the objective to improve the lake water quality by preventing
pollutants entering in to the lake both point source & non-point sources of
pollution, besides removal of nutrient rich sediments and interception &
diversion of dry weather flows and improvement of nalas in catchment area. The
process is going on to take necessary measures for preventing the challenges
seen on the surface. The objectives of the project don’t concentrate much on the
damage caused to the groundwater in the surrounding areas in general and
particularly in the downstream area covering the stretch with Indira Park,
Domalguda and adjoining areas which is more complex to regain or treat the
pollution. The research studies made on these challenges do not focus on the
possible groundwater pollution. Suitable strategy has been presented at
National Seminar (1995 by Author itself) organized by APSSB and more attention
is required to address the challenges and thus to regain lake’s olden golden
glory.
Understanding the complexity of
the lake water contamination and its possible influence on the groundwater of
the surrounding area in general and particularly the downstream area, the
methodologies proposed are: collection of water samples from the existing open
/ bore wells; its quality assessment; deployment of geophysical scanning tools
covering resistivity, magnetic, ground probe radar (GPR) & bore well tools;
and other supporting geological & hydrological tools. The deployment of
techniques depends upon the feasibility of the area. It is expected that budget
may not be the constraint as the lake is the best monument of twin cities which
has got international recognition in terms of religious and recreational
purpose and further to cater the needs of the people after it’s
conservation.
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Looking forward for your reflections and suggestions...
with thanks
