No machines to clean lake

Though the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has allocated Rs 300 crore for cleaning the Hussainsagar lake, the authorities do not have machinery to clean the algae. They are depending on workers to clean it. Infested with water-hyacinths and aquatic weeds, the lake not only emanates a terrible odour, but has also turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

However, the HMDA authorities squarely blame the algae. Mr Chandra Mohan Reddy, OSD for the Buddha Poornima Project, HMDA says, “The foul smell is due to the sudden bloom of the blue-green algae in the lake water. We are cleaning the lake water on alternate days. The workers have started the cleaning process that includes a simple skimming operation to remove the algae.”

“It may take more than two years to complete the Hussainsagar cleaning project. Till then, we are taking care of untreated sewage coming from nalas for better maintenance. Also, we are going to manually remove the hyacinth and other floating garbage from the lake as we don’t have specialised machinery,” he added

The senior environmental engineer, Mr Rajendar Reddy, said, “Some blue-green algae produce toxins that could pose health risk to people when they are exposed to them in large quantities.”