It took no more than 350 school students, a handful of environmentalists and GHMC officials to clean up the Kapra lake at Yapral on June 29 this year.
The arduous task was the second successful lake clean up by Arun Krishnamurthy, founder of Environmentalists Foundation of India (EFI), a Chennai-based NGO.
Supported by a faithful group of students, Arun now plans to restore the Gurunatham Cheruvu at Miyapur.
“It was the first lake we cleaned in Hyderabad two years ago, and thankfully, 80 percent of it is still clean. The remaining 20 percent is dirty, as it is open for public,” he said, revealing that he has plans to turn the lake into a bio-diversity hub. The project is modelled after the ‘Keezhkattalai’ lake in Chennai, which is soon going to be turned into a biodiversity lake.
“I think it is the first time in the country that an NGO will take up such a task. We want to first ensure success, then do it in Hyderabad,” added Arun.
The founder of EFI has managed to convince the authorities to help him clean and conserve lakes. As a result, GHMC provides him with garbage trucks and other facilities. Apart from environment, the NGO also plans to do something for animals. In fact, EFI is going to start an animal shelter equipped with a 24-hr ambulance service in Chennai.
“We have the same thing planned for Hyderabad. Once we restore the Gurunatham lake, that will be our next priority,” he said.Retd.Colonel Yogesh Arya, whose son Arjun Arya is the R&D member of EFI in Hyderabad, has agreed to provide space for an animal shelter in Hyderabad.
“That solves a lot of problems. We have an Omni van ready for Chennai. Hyderabad’s should be ready in the next 12 months,” said Arun.
The project alo includes a toll free number, which will be set up by EFI once the service starts.
“First we’ll begin with Trimulgherry in Secunderabad, and slowly we will extend the service,.” said the EFI founder.
Replying to a query on maintenance of lakes, Arun explained that the Kapra lake was being looked after by the colony members and GHMC officials. But the coming Ganesh festival is a major concern.
“We have spoken to people, and we proposed that we create an artificial lake for immersions, which will not be connected to the Kapra lake anyway,” he said.
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