First Bangalore, now Hyderabad has frothing lakes with toxic foam! The Rama Krishna Puram Lake canal in Hyderabad started overflowing with toxic foam on Monday after heavy rainfall in the area.
The lake is commonly known as R.K. Puram lake and it has become one of the lakes in Hyderabad that is choking with pollution.
The lake is part of Alwal catchment area and an aquifer is attached that sends water to 14 different colonies.
Experts fear rising levels of pollution in the R.K. Puram lake will eventually lead it to the same fate as the Bellandur lake in Bengaluru.
In February this year, the Bellandur lake foamed up much like the R.K. Puram lake and then burst into flames.
An activist spread the word regarding the lake in Hyderabad over social media. The activist said in a statement, “The foam coming from R.K. Puram lake is from toxic sewage runoff, and is caused by the high content of ammonia and phosphate. R.K. Puram lake is Malkajgiri’s largest lake, but it has become the Malkajgiri-Defence Colony area drainage system, with sewage moving into the lake.”
General Secretary of the United Federation of Residents’ Welfare Associations, B.T. Srinivasan said, “The foam is definitely chemical in nature, evident from the smell. We think that someone may have set up an illegal manufacturing unit, and connected their drain to the lake. That is what we suspect as of now.”
He further said a complaint was made to the Pollution Control Board (PCB,) “PCB officials will now take samples and then try to ascertain the source of the pollution, before moving forward.”
