Hyderabad: Durgam Cheruvu soon to be pollution-free

Hyderabad: The highly polluted Durgam Cheruvu located near Hitech city, Madhapur is going to be restored to its pristine glory soon. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) proposes to take the construction of the Interception and Diversion (I&Ds) lines at Madhapur, formation of ring bund and laying ring main at Durgam Cheruvu under Phase-I for diversion of sewerage entering into the lake at an estimated cost of Rs 35 crore.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is also going to contribute Rs 5 crore of the total estimate and the remaining Rs 30 crore will be provided by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC). The polluted lake is being restored in compliance of the orders of Andhra Pradesh High Court and AP Lok Ayukta. HMWS&SB officials told Express that in May this year, the Water Board Managing Director sent a detailed proposal to the state government for restoration of the lake under Phase-I.

A ring sewer main drain of 1,000 mm diameter will be laid around the pheriphery and downstreams of the lake up to Mallika Cheruvu, which will divert the sewage water entering into the lake from three main storm water drains of Madhapur nala, Silent Valley nala and Industrial Area Local Authorities (IALA) nala. Though these are storm water drains, they bring sewage from over a dozen industrial areas called IALAs that are under the control of APIIC and residential areas of Madhapur, Kavuri Hills, Hitec City Phase-II and parts of Guttala Begumpet that form the catchment area of the lake.

Several residential and industrial belts in the catchment area of Durgam Cheruvu which do not have an underground sewage network and sewage connections from individual houses have been letting the waste into the lake. Under the Phase-II proposals for construction of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Mallika cheruvu or to construct the ring sewer main from the downstream of Mallika cheruvu upto Musi river to join the STP proposed under National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) Project, Phase-2. The Government instructed Water Board to take up the Phase-I works without waiting for the administrative approval of NRCD Phase-2 works.