According to officials, the lake spread was over 34 acres, which has been reduced to under 20 acres, with 15 acres encroached with various warehouses and factories.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The officials of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA) began demolishing structures built on the fringes of the Appa Cheruvu in the Gaganpahad area of Hyderabad on Saturday morning (August 31, 2024).
The Appa Cheruvu was one of the lakes that sent its flood waters roaring in October 13-14, 2020 — floods that swept away a family, killing four members, and destroyed the road connectivity between Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Also Read: How lake encroachments and official inaction led to floods in Hyderabad in 2020
The structures demolished include a few buildings and temporary sheds built abutting a road and the lake. The demolitions were carried out with strong police presence limiting access to people as rain pelted the area limiting visibility. The owner of one of the properties has been quoted as saying that it is patta land and is neither in the buffer zone nor inside the lake.
According to officials, the lake spread was over 34 acres, which has been reduced to under 20 acres, with 15 acres encroached with various warehouses and factories.
The Appa Cheruvu is not a notified lake in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area but is part of the link of chain lakes between Brahman Cheruvu and Mamidala Kunta in the Gaganpahad area.
