TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW

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S.no Topic Page No.

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OVERVIEW

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION

ABOUT SAFILGUDA LAKE

RECENT ISSUES AT LAKE

DOMESTIC SEWAGE DISPOSING INTO THE WATER

PROBLEMS DUE TO MIROBIAL LIFE

MOSQUITO MENACE AT THE LAKE

OTHER PROBLEMS

CONCLUSION

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Water covers two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, with over 97% present in the oceans and less than 1% in freshwater streams and lakes. Water is also present in the atmosphere in solid form in the polar icecaps and as groundwater in deep underground. Water has many remarkable properties. It is sometimes referred to as ‘the universal solvent’, readily dissolving a wide range of chemical substances. It also acts as a fluid medium facilitating the dispersal of un-dissolved particulate matter.

Water pollution may be defined as any chemical or physical change in water detrimental to living organisms. It can occur through natural processes, for example by sediments produced by natural erosion. Water bodies are a major recipient of an extensive array of wastes produced by human activity. These may be discharged directly into watercourses by sewers or pipes from factories or be washed down from agricultural or urban areas particularly after heavy rains. Under rather exceptional circumstances, water bodies may become significantly contaminated by the atmospheric deposition of pollutants.

Water Availability on the Planet :

The water that is found in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and artificial reservoirs is called surface water. Water that percolates into ground and fills the pores in the soil and rock is called ground water. Porous water-saturated layers of sand, gravel or bedrock though which ground water flows are called “aquifer’s “. Most aquifers are replenished naturally by the rainfall that percolates downwards towards the soil and rock. This process is called natural recharge.

If the with drawl rate of an aquifer exceeds its natural recharge rate, the water table is lowered. Any pollutant that is discharged onto the land above is also pulled into the aquifer and pollutes the groundwater, resulting in polluted water in the nearby wells.

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION

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The main causes of water pollution are :

Discharge of untreated industrial and domestic sewage into water bodies. Bathing animals, washing clothes, etc., in or around lakes, rivers and water

bodies. Oil leaks from ferry boats or ships. Agricultural pollutants like inorganic pesticides and chemical fertilizers draining

into water bodies. Disposal of garbage in and around lakes, rivers or water bodies.

From the next section we shall discuss the pollution of our case study about the pollution of Safilguda Lake.

ABOUT SAFILGUDA LAKE

Safilguda is a residential suburb in hyderabad, it comes under the Malkajgiri municipality. There is a lake popularly known as “Safilguda Lake “ or “Nadimi

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cheruvu “.The boundary road around the lake is fashioned like the "tank bund" on the Hussain Sagar Lake and hence is also referred to as “mini tankbund”. This is a popular attraction for the localites for jogging and evening-walks.

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Apart from being a hangout destination for people of safilguda, the lake also plays host to a variety of birds, ducks and squirrels. The lush greenery around the lake provides a great scenic beauty to the place and also defines “living with nature”.

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RECENT ISSUES AT THE LAKE

As of late the so called “Safilguda Lake” is being drastically polluted thanks to the official apathy of the HUDA. When the lake was inaugurated in 2000, residents welcomed the carving out of a proper lung space in the cluttered neighbourhood. However, today that same lake is a picture of neglect, dotted with stinking garbage piles and a breeding place for mosquitoes. 

Sewage from the adjoining buildings now finds its way into the lake and, in what is a sure indication of a lost cause, boating and canteen facilities, too, have stayed closed for around four years now. 

Revathi Joshi, a resident, said: "The stench every summer is unbearable. Refuse from the fish market nearby and waste from various pujas performed by people, too, end up in the lake. We suffer a lot due to the mosquitoes that breed in its dirty waters".

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And to add to the problems of the lake, every year a massive amount of POP gets deposited into the lake during Ganesh immersion. The sound pollution around the lake is too high during those times even though the police don’t permit such loud noise after 10 in the night

Hundreds of people visit the park for their morning and evening walks and these visitors now lament the sad pass the place has come into. The last time the entire lake was cleaned was in January 2011.Residents say they miss the time when the lake was better maintained. 

Any activity in the name of maintenance is merely a hog wash. Elected representatives are also least bothered to do their bit to save the lake.

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Trouble of domestic sewage disposing

into the water

The tiles on the walk-way have chipped off, the benches are broken, and the walk-way around the lake has broken down at certain places and is dumped with leaves and trash. People regularly dump polythene bags full of trash into the lake heedless to the fact that it might lead to clogging of the drain down the stream.

Another one of the most neglected aspect of domestic sewage depostion is that a municipal drainage runs just along the bank of the lake without proper maintanence.

The probability of it leaking someday has left the locals in imminent danger of parasital attacks and diseases.

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Also some part of the water is sent for treatment ,which torments the locals say the drainage leaks and all filthy water gets treated and supplied to their houses. Who would want to drink water that has been treated of sewage?.

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Problems arising due to microbial life

Stench is one of the main problems the locals are facing due to healthy flourishment of microbial life at the lake. Several regular visitors from all age-groups voiced their concern over the stench and neglect of upkeep of the park. The signs of neglect are apparent at Safilguda lake park, one of the first highly polluted lakes restored by HUDA under the Conservation and Restoration Project of Green Hyderabad Environment Programme four years ago.

Thus taking a serious view of complaints about stench and poor upkeep of the lake area, HUDA officials who inspected the park last week concluded that the spread of blue-green algae in the lake, a seasonal growth noticed in summer months, was the cause of the stench and initiated measures to clear the algal growth.

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The official also said that once the algae is removed, it would also be investigated to find out if any untreated sewage was finding its way into the lake. Even the lake is also not being treated properly

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Mosquito menace at the lake

Another problem at the lake is the year-long breeding of mosquitos at all parts of the lake. The authorities have failed in controlling the rapid growth of mosquitoes at the lake and alas! as a result the number of malarial cases have been on the rise.

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Other problems

Not only the lake, but also the park adjacent to it is a haven for people who decide to take a cople off hours among clean air , and lush greenery. There is no proper waste management techniques at hand. Yet the locals continue to neglect the important aspect of “cleanliness is next to godliness”. The dust bins are out of shape and capacity to hold any waste at all.

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CONCLUSION

Thus the safilguda lake is one centre of ecological heritage, which requires dire assitance to cope up with the maintanence and also, the fact that all necessary things for the upliftment of social responsibility and civic assitance is of high end.

“Reduce - Reuse – Recycle” should be the mantra that all locals and every person around and in safilguda must follow

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