Yapral lake’s pollution threatens its existence

HYDERABAD: For a change, the highly polluted Hussainsagar lake has a serious competitor. Yapral lake in Secunderabad, though smaller, has higher biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels than the Hussainsagar lake.
“Yapral lake’s propensity to get polluted is at a much higher scale. It becomes that much more difficult to restore and maintain it. Higher BOD means more oxygen is required, signifying lower water quality,” points out BV Subba Rao, city-based hydrologist and technical member, reservoirs and lakes (water domain), Bureau of Indian Standards.According to the latest data released by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board, Yapral lake’s BOD level stands at 12 mg/L, which is double than the levels in Hussainsagar.
This is the reality of a lake which once served as a major irrigation water source for the 3,000 residents. From being a major source for farming activity, the lake is now on the precipice of a disaster.
Surrounded by highrises and gated communities, Yapral lake is a cesspool of sewage and solid waste.
Despite the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s efforts to turn the place into an ecological park, the smell from the degraded water has left the environs and the walking tracks deserted.
The lake is besieged with microalgae, especially near the apartments, which is generated due to tonnes of sewage. “Around five years ago, Yapral lake was overflowing with water. Slowly, buildings that were raised in the buffer zone stand in the midst of sewage water. GHMC built a bund around the lake, but sewage pollution is a huge problem now,” Krupa Shankar, a resident of Prakruthik Vihar Colony, said.
Krishna Yadav, a resident of Sainikpuri, said the foul odour from the lake gets worse in summer with the depleting water levels which increase the sewage stench.
Experts said the microalgal lake is a clear indication of concentration of organic waste. Unbridled constructions that encroach the buffer zone are bound to cause heightened sewage pollution, they said.
“Lack of a buffer zone and violation of GO 168 that emphasise the extent of buffer zone are issues here. Developers of apartments have violated this. There is no action against them,” Subba Rao says. Yapral was a panchayat in the mid-80s with lot of agricultural land parcels. “Now, Yapral has been transformed into a huge concrete mess with residential blocks and gated communities dotting the area while the lake’s pollution is reaching alarming levels,” complaine a resident.