HYDERABAD: The Telangana govt has revealed that 171 water bodies within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) of the Hyderabad metropolitan region have been encroached upon in the past 10 years, between 2014 and 2023, during the previous BRS regime.
Though the lakes were spread over 3,586.12 acres in 2014, when the new state was formed, squatters have encroached upon over 386 acres, worth several thousands of crores.
Some lakes in areas such as Kistareddypet, Kuntloor, Shaikpet, Gopanpally, Bachupally, Poppalguda, Peeranchervu, Uppal Bhagat, Rampally, KPHB (Maisamma Chervu), Alwal, Mamidipally, etc., have been fully encroached upon by constructions in the past decade from zero encroachments in 2014.
Some lakes, which were partly occupied such as Kithavani Kunta (Narsingi), Brahmana Kunta (Poppalguda), Vaderavani Kunta (Thumkunta), Vayejamma Kunta (Bandlaguda Jagir), Hathguda Kunta (Bagh Hayatnagar), and Mukkasani Kunta (Puppalguda) in Rangareddy, Medchal, and Sangareddy districts, were completely covered by encroachments between 2014 and 2023.
Telangana Remote Sensing Application Centre (TGRAC), which is part of the planning department, has come up with a report on the encroachment of lakes by comparing satellite images of the water bodies between 2014 and 2023.
The report was released by deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at a press conference on Monday. All these encroachments are in the FTL, and if the buffer zones are considered, the extent could be more than double.
The satellite images revealed that of the 499 water bodies, which had zero encroachments in 2014, 20 lakes had been encroached upon totally, and another 57 were occupied partially in the past decade.
Of those partially encroached, 196 lakes (June 2014), 24 water bodies were completely encroached upon, and 70 had further encroachments, though partially, till 2023.
When it comes to the extent of land covered by the constructions, 40 acres of land had disappeared in the lakes from zero to full category, 126 acres from zero to partly, 63 acres from partly to full, and 156 acres from partly to further encroachments.
