Hyacinth removal taken up in lakes in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Government authorities are in an overdrive clearing hyacinth from several lakes, including Kapra and Annarayuni Cheruvu. Residents are happy with the restoration work.
Municipal commissioner Nagaram Vani Reddy said labourers had worked on hyacinth removal for the last 15 days. “The work was finally completed. The machine was provided by the HMDA.We plan to further augment the lake,” Vani Reddy said.
Prashant Mamidala, who has been working on the Annarayuni lake, said: “After one of the local community members tweeted to MAUD principal secretary Arvind Kumar, we got the floating trash collector machine at Annarayuni Cheruvu. We are now planning to build wetland islands in the lake.” He added that volunteers were asking the irrigation department to mark the full tank level of the lake so that its boundaries can be protected.
At Kapra lake, similar efforts are under way. “Almost 50% of the hyacinth has been removed,” said CS Chandrasekhar, secretary, Federation of North-Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad (FNECS).
At Shadnagar lake, volunteers have taken up clearing of the hyacinth. Madhulika Choudhary, founder of Dhruvansh, said: “We have incorporated many ideas where workers do not have to venture into the water and hyacinth can be removed completely.”
She did not have much hope on the floating trash collector, saying they are expensive and do not work well in shallow waters.