For generations, we have protected lakes and used them for irrigation. Farmers dependent on lakes planted trees to ensure that lakes did not burst out of their bunds or that stand did not fill them up. With an increase in the number of bore wells, however, farmers have neglected the lakes. Now a mere five thousand lakes exist irrigate 500,000 acres of farmland in the state. In 1955-56, it is about 1,200,000 area of land depended on ponds and lakes. In Telangana, many lakes have gone totally dry.
The ecosystem around rocks, hillock and hills is very interesting, it provides habitat for a variety of life forms like trees, insects, birds and animals. Interestingly, custard apple trees grow in the cracks of rocks or long side them when bird droppings containing these seeds fall there. Rocks that were so far home to several life forms are now being blasted for use in constructing people’s houses.
Caves such as the Burra in Visakhapatnam and Belam in Kurnool are impacted by the growing tourism industry. They are oozing their original ambience, being disturbed beyond recognition.
Of the 1290 species of the birds in India, only about twenty five damages crops. In the earlier days, farmers would put up bamboo poles for these birds to sit on and catches catch pests. Birds like owls would catch pests like rats. At present, however, farmers are using scarecrows in multicolored clothes to frighten away all birds including the farmer-friendly ones.
The Pulicat in Nellore district is the largest salt water lake in the state. Even this lake is under tremendous pressure now.
The Hussein Sagar was built to supply drinking water to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Sucenderabad. It gets water through four main inlets. The Banjara Nala from the west, the Balkampeta Nala from the south west, the picket Nala from the north- east and the Kukatapally Nala from the north –west. Gradually, domestic industrial wastes began to enter the lake. In the upper reaches of the lake is the Jeedimetla industrial development Area from where wastewater entered the lake in the past. Later of course, pipelines took the combined wastewater of the industrial area to treatment plants. However, wastewater from residential areas is still being fed into the lake.
In addition to this, during the Ganesh festival, Hyderabad with a pollution o sixty Lakhs, reduces and immerses thousands of large sized Ganesh idols and hundreds of thousands of smaller ones, which choke and pollute the lake affecting its usual water holding capacity. Adding to these problems is the factor of illegal encroachments on the fringes of the lakebed reducing its size and capacity. Clearly, the Hussein Sagar is under severe pressure due to our actions.
The clash between man and nature can only produce terrible consequences. In the recent times, even a day’s rain has led to many areas of the city of Hyderabad being inundated leading to coining of the tem `man –made floods’. The heavy rains of 2005 caused severe damages to east Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna districts and Hyderabad. They are all a testimony to the different attitude of human beings towards nature.
Different voices but same goal
Environmentalists remind us of the need to protect and preserve every aspect of our surroundings. They stress that rocks are the records o time and must be protected another group says that life in impossible without birds. Yet another asks us to protect forests and its inhabitants. Some environmental organization are struggling to protect fresh and salt water lakes, rivers, temple ponds and forests along with exploring and preserving medicinal herbs. Some others focus on the proper handling of waste, Vehicular pollution and biomedical wastes in cities. There are organizations fighting for the cause of protection of historical monuments. Others fight for patents for local people over food grains, medicinal plants and indigenous trees. The struggle to protect the environment has spread to all parts on India. It has become the need of the hour.