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 and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, 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. Its jurisdiction was expanded in 2008 by merging it with the surrounding mandals to form t ...

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 (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

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

fertilizers A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

and

insecticides Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed t ...

. Inevitably, untreated domestic sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents entered into the

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area 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 (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

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 T ...

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 Geography of Hyderabad, India Artificial lakes of India 1626 establishments in India Lakes of Hyderabad, India