BRS-Left leader drained water to reduce Burhankhan Cheruvu

Hyderabad: Defying the Lokayukta’s directives to identify the full tank level (FTL) of the Burhankhan Cheruvu, the Jalpally municipal workers under the previous BRS regime breached the embankment of the lake and pumped out the water to reduce its size and protect encroachers.

Due to continued illegal encroachments with the support of local politicians in the Maheshwaram Assembly constituency, the area of ​​the Burhanpur Cheruvu has shrunk from 78 acres to less than 15 acres.

The 2020 floods had submerged several illegal structures in nearby colonies, which were built on the lake bed. Following a petition, the High Court directed the Jalpally and Badangpet municipalities to remove illegal structures under the FTL and buffer zone and submit a report on the action taken. No action was taken. The current spell of heavy rains has submerged more than 500 illegal structures on the lake bed.

In addition to allocating funds to breach the lake’s embankment to lower the water level, local authorities constructed cement concrete roads on the lake bed to facilitate residents of illegal constructions.

Adi Narayana, a resident of Weaker Sections Colony, said a local assemblyman had been pressuring the Jalpally municipality authorities to release funds during the BRS period to drain water from the lake through pipelines.

The illegal construction of houses in colonies such as Green City, Ahmednagar, Allen Colony, Habeeb Colony, Shaheednagar, Shahi Hills and Shajahan Colony has proved a bane for hundreds of poor people in the colony, said Adi Narayana, who lives downstream of the lake and has been given a patta by the government.

Undaunted by the political fallout, Srinivas, a local Congress leader, accused former minister Sabitha Indra Reddy of laying pipelines to divert water from the Burhankhan Cheruvu.

Mukarram, a resident of Osmannagar Colony, which lies largely on the lake bed, blamed local pehelwans (strongmen) for their plight. “Some of us bought the plots from the local heavyweights around 15 to 20 years ago, while many have illegally entered the lake area,” Mukarram said.

Burhankhan Cheruvu was once situated in a picturesque location with hills on all four sides. The lake was formed naturally with rainwater reaching the lake. The encroachments started from the hill and reached deep into the bed of the lake.

According to Mukarram, who bought the plot from a local pehelwan and lives on the edge of a hill, the current sight of hundreds of houses submerged is evidence of how big the lake has become.

A local Congress leader from Balapur, C. Narasimha Reddy, whose family has lived in the area for generations, said that the excess water from Wadde Kunta, after reaching the FTL limits, flowed to Burhankhan Cheruvu, then to Balapur Pedda Cheruvu and later to Gurram Cheruvu, before reaching the Musi river.

All the lakes were connected by proper channels. The interconnection was broken by illegal colonies that came into being through the patronage of some local representatives, he repents.

According to an official survey conducted in 2014, the Burhankhan Cheruvu is an HMDA identified lake and falls under Venkatapur village of Saroornagar mandal in Rangareddy district. The FTL limit of the lake is 78.231 acres with a bund length of 908 metres.

Jalpally, located on the way to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, was once home to a large portion of government land and lakes. The area became the target of powerful land grabbing mafia, leading to shrinking of water bodies including Jalpally Tank, Jalpally Kunta, Talla Kunta Cheruvu, Erra Kunta Cheruvu and Burhankhan Cherru.

The Jalpally Tank and Jalpally Kunta are interconnected water bodies stretching over two kilometres, touching three distinct areas of Laxmiguda, Bandlaguda and Errakunta.