Couple admiring sunset at Saroornagar lake Hyderabad

Saroornagar Lake is a lake in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, India. From the year of its creation in 1626, the lake remained largely clean until 1956 when Hyderabad expanded. Spread over , the lake was restored by the

Hyderabad Urban Development Authority The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) was created in 1975, vide an act of the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly, State Assembly of Andhra Pradesh. History Its jurisdiction was expanded in 2008 by merging it with the surrounding mandal ...

in 2003–04 at a cost of . After the restoration of the lake, migratory birds returned to the lake in large numbers a few years later.

History

In 1626, the lake was created for agricultural and drinking purposes. Spread over , the lake has a maximum depth of . It is one of five major water bodies in

. After 1956 when Hyderabad became the state capital of the

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, the city witnessed unprecedented population growth, industrialisation and agriculture using synthetic

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

and

insecticides Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, in ...

. Inevitably, untreated domestic sewage,

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

and industrial effluents entered into the

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of this lake. In 2003, the Minister of Tourism for Andhra Pradesh announced that the lake and its surroundings would be developed at a cost of . As a part of this initiative, two

sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

s with the capacity to treat 250 million litres of sewage a day were to be installed. In addition to this, tourism-centric facilities such as a boating facility in the lake, a children's park and a restaurant were to be taken up. The minister also announced that all construction activity on the lake bed were to be stopped. Soon after, city's civic agency

took up the task of cleaning up the lake. Four years after the installation of the sewage treatment plant, the officials reported 95% of sewage being treated. With the groundwater conditions improved, migratory birds returned to the lake in big numbers. In 2007, park was developed alongside the lake at a cost of . The park featured sculptures, ornamental landscape, boating facility and an environment education centre. Citizens of nearby localities such as L. B. Nagar and

Vanasthalipuram Vanasthalipuram is a residential neighborhood in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It comes under Hayathnagar Mandal and Hayathnagar Revenue Division in L.B. Nagar zone along the highway towards Vijayawada a During the rule of the Nizam of Hyderab ...

welcomed this development. It has last its charm now After the restoration, the civic agencies have taken necessary measures to prevent pollution from the annual immersion of Ganesh idols. In addition, measures were taken to curb unauthorised construction near the lake bed. However, by 2009, the filtration unit of the sewage treatment plant stopped functioning properly. As a result of this, the lake was getting polluted with domestic waste.

References

{{Hydrography of Telangana Artificial lakes of India 1626 establishments in India Lakes of Hyderabad, India