Cleaning up the environs of the Ameenpur Lake, near Ramachandrapuram, in the western suburbs of the city, gathered pace on Sunday when nearly 200 volunteers picked up plastic bags and other trash strewn on the lake shore and shallow water areas as part of their initiative to restore the lake to its pristine Nature.
The volunteers from the Telangana State Special Protection Force (TSSPF) and two youth groups, Hyderabad Birding Pals, a mixed group of bird buffs, and Phulkari, the ladies wing of the Telangana Punjabi Sabha, have launched the Ameenpur Lake Clean Up Campaign, in a sustained manner so that the bird habitat is enriched by the time of peak arrivals in September.
The campaign is supported by the GHMC, Collector and District Magistrate, Medak, District Police, Medak and the Gram Panchayat, Ameenpur. Emergence of factories, housing colonies and other encroachments, including mines, in the lake conservancy zone has posed environmental threats in the area around the lake. “There are several issues like the unauthorized occupation of the lake bed where lay outs have sprung up, the flow of domestic wastage and industrial effluents besides the killing of birds as game or for exotic meat of which there is evidence in the lake environs that have to be addressed. We are in touch with the Medak district Collector and other concerned officials on these issues,” said the TSSPF Director General Mrs.Tejdeep Kaur Menon,
With the arrival of seasonal migratory birds, following the onset of the monsoon, both groups are pledged to be involved in the cleaning up of the lake’s periphery, protect nesting sites and spread awareness among college goers and high school students about the lake ecosystem that harbors a wide variety of birds.
The volunteers are to spend at least one day every month on the restoration efforts beginning with the bird sightings soon after the break of dawn. “What we sighted on June 28 included the black winged stilt, cormorant, grey heron, little egret, black kite, red wattled lapwing, Indian silver bill, red vented bulbul, the Indian oriole, the spotted dove, painted stork, the river tern and the Indian robin,” said Harikrishna Adepu of the Hyderabad Birding Pals, while pointing out about 162 species of birds flock to the Ameenpur lake every year.
Volunteers of the Hyderabad Birding Pals and other bird buffs have spotted some species of fishes and snakes in the 50 acre water sheet and the trees and shrubs in its environs spread over 100 acres. They plan to organize lecture and visual presentation sessions for school and college goers on how to identify different species, their role as young citizens in protecting the ecosystem and understand the impact of different pollutants that affect the lake.
Planting of saplings has also begun at the 64 acre TSSPF Academy which abuts the lake. These include flower and fruit tree saplings like peepul, neem, jackfruit, mango, gulmohar and jamun. (INN)