Unkal Lake to be cleaned under Smart Cities’ project

Hubballi: Until the apathy of the civic agencies resulted in unchecked flow of sewage to its waters,

Unkal Lake

was one of the key waterbodies in Hubballi-Dharwad. However, increasing volume of contaminants in its waters resulted in proliferation of water hyacinth on its surface, and its expanding growth has steadily been choking the life out of Unkal Lake. Undeterred by past failures in clearing the weeds, the Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City Ltd (

HDSCL

) has decided to rejuvenate the waterbody, and restore to Unkal Lake its past glory.

The civic agency has chalked out a comprehensive plan aimed at cleaning and refurbishing the surroundings of the waterbody, and in the first phase of this initiative, the lake will be cleansed of contaminants, and the quality improved at the cost of Rs 15 crore.

HDSCL special officer

SH Naregal

said that around 18 to 21

aerators

would be installed in the lake to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen level in the waterbody. “The aerators will clean the water naturally by way of introducing oxygen to the water,” Naregal told TOI.

Aid He added that aerators would prevent stagnation of water, which in turn, would help check the growth of algae and fungi and other microorganisms that lead to mushrooming of weeds. “Ensuring flow of water will also mean that the lake will not be a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” said Naregal, adding that work had commenced to map the surroundings of the lake to install the aerators.

HDSCL deputy general manager Channabasavaraj said that the contractor tasked with cleaning Unkal Lake had cleared weeds across 48 acres of the waterbody’s surface. “We will also work on stopping flow of contaminated water to the lake. We will have floating rafters or floating wetlands to mitigate pollution,” he added.

HDSCL conducted a

bathymetric survey

– a process through which the depth of a waterbody, along with details of its underlying features is learnt – through which they learnt that the amount of nitrogen in Unkal Lake was more than what is deemed safe for aquatic animals. “The floating wetlands will help reduce the toxicity in the waters,” said HDSCL officers.