Official action sounds death knell for two lakes close to ORR in Mallampet

Hi Rise PVR Meadows: A gated community near ORR with two lakes, Chenna Cheruvu & Kotha Cheruvu. Sewage mixed slush enters the community every time it rains, turning it into a cesspool. Kotha Cheruvu has been encroached upon, with sewage entering Chenna Cheruvu due to a deeper trench connecting the newly-constructed drain. Garbage thrown in the drain worsens the problem. Residents suffer due to local politicians' land-manufacturing plans.

It’s a quaint township tucked into a corner at Bowrampet, close to the Outer Ring Road. Accommodating 234 villa type residences hemmed in by wide roads and thick greenery, it is the kind of place everybody looks forward to live in. Added to these advantages is the rare privilege of two lakes, Chenna Cheruvu and Kotha Cheruvu on either side of the township.

There end the blessings of the Hi Rise PVR Meadows, one of the rare gated communities to have been constructed before 2010 in the neighbourhood of ORR. Lake view is no more a brownie point there now. Sewage mixed slush enters the community every time it rains, turning it into a horribly stinking cesspool.

“The catch pits overflow, and fill the roads with sewage. Due to crisscrossing of water supply lines with the storm water drains, some times sewage enters our sumps, forcing us to clean them up so very often. During recent rains, the water entered our homes too,” fumes P. Padma Priya, president of the Hi Rise PVR Meadows Owners’ Welfare Association.

The township is one of the very few in the city, which have not encroached upon the lakes’ FTL and buffer zones, despite the close proximity. A storm water drain connects both the lakes, facilitating hassle-free drainage from Kotha Cheruvu to Chenna Cheruvu.

Further, they have a sewage treatment plant, and the treated water is used entirely for gardening, which explains the lush greenery inside. Sadly, all this care has come to a nought, and one lake now has become the receptacle of sewage, while the other lake is on the verge of disappearing owing to rampant encroachments.

The original extent of Kotha Cheruvu on the eastern side in the limits of Mallampet mandal of Medchal Malkajgiri district, was over nine acres as per locals, and mentioned as close to eight acres in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority records. Now only about two to three acres remains, with a large number of houses constructed right in the FTL area. Within the lake there is a Government High School. The breach was initiated by none other than Revenue Department officials, who thought it wise to allot land pattas to the poor inside the lake, way back in 2006 when the lake was dry.

A public interest litigation was filed in 2013 challenging the construction within the FTL, and the Andhra Pradesh High Court issued orders against it. Notwithstanding the orders, more structures came up over the years, condoned by the officials.