Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Tuesday said that the Telangana government was very keen to clean the Hussain Sagar as also other major lakes in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and their outskirts. So far, as many as 169 lakes had been identified by the GHMC for development and beautification in a phased manner, he said.
The minister on Tuesday inspected the Chinnarayuni Cheruvu where the GHMC has initiated works for the removal of hyacinth and other plants in the lake using the latest "Weed Harvester" technology. The trial run was taken up in the presence of Home Minister Nayini Narsimha Reddy and senior officials of the GHMC.
Speaking on the occasion, Harish Rao said that the GHMC had more lakes than any other city in the country. However, he expressed concern over encroachments of the lakes. He said that the Telangana government was planning to save 169 lakes, and of them, surveys had been conducted on 156 lakes.
The minister further said that the government was striving hard for the overall development of Telangana as per the vision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. He informed that the Krishna water third phase would be completed in the next three months, and that all the officials were trying hard to complete the project within the stipulated time. He said that the HHMWSSB would soon be able to provide water every day to the citizens.
Addressing the meeting, the Home Minister said that the beautification of the lakes would draw more tourists from different parts of the country.
GHMC Commissioner and Special Officer Somesh Kumar, Malkajgiri MLA Kanaka Reddy, Engineer-in-Chief R Dhan Singh, Chief Engineer Suresh Kumar, Zonal Commissioner (North) Hari Chandana and other senior officials of the engineering wing participated in the trial run inspection at Alwal. (INN)