Ignorance or apathy.....

Nestled among the lush green terrains lies the Durgam Cheruvu lake which served as the primary source of drinking water to the Golconda Fort. The students of Grade 11 visited the lake as part of their long term CAS project. Some observations …

It was sad to see a lot of litter and trash covering the ground. The surface of the lake was also covered with algae and other impurities. We were a witness to people dumping litter, ashes into the lake.  We also interviewed a couple of people residing in the catchment area and this is what they had to say. The people living in the slums complained of a lot of mosquitoes in the area. They spoke about people frequenting the lake during the night and that there is no police on duty to check the consumption of liquor by people. There are people who come in cars and drop all their polythene bags, bottles and trash without any thought to the pollution and damage they do to the lake. 

All the fish in the lake have failed to survive over the years due to excessive pollution. Sewage and drainage from Madhapur, Jubilee Hills, nearby apartments , In orbit mall and other commercial buildings, flows into Durgam Cheruvu. The water sometimes flows into nearby apartments too.

A common complaint of the residents around was that nobody visits the lake to keep a check on its cleanliness, although GHMC is responsible for this. A cleaner at the lake told us that he fills around 10 sacks of trash per day.

We talk about pollution and environment concerns in the confines of our homes but one need to go out in the open to actually witness the damage we do to the environment by our thoughtless actions. I hope this initiative by the Oakridgers of trying to preserve this fresh water lake will inspire many to help us in this cause.