Hyderabad: Imagine a water body one-tenth the size of Hussainsagar Lake simply vanishing from the map. While it might seem unbelievable in other cities, it has indeed happened in Hyderabad. Over the past 45 years, the 4,09,000-square-metre Thummalakunta Lake has completely disappeared, making way for residential colonies in Saidabad and Saroornagar. Satellite images of 54 lakes from 1979 and 2023, analyzed by HYDRAA with data from the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), reveal that nearly 75% of these lakes—40 in total—have shrunk by half.
While Thummalakunta has vanished entirely, Pedda Cheruvu near Badangpet, close to Balapur, is almost unrecognizable, with only 4% of its original size remaining as Meerpet Talab. In 1979, Pedda Cheruvu spanned 30,83,000 square meters, but encroachments have reduced it to just 1,14,000 square meters. Similarly, Nalla Cheruvu in Uppal, Pedda Cheruvu in Kuntloor near Hayathnagar, and Miryalguda Cheruvu near Safilguda have shrunk by 90%.
Eleven lakes in Hyderabad have lost between 80% to 89% of their area. Ramanthapur Cheruvu-1 has shrunk by 88%, as have Kompally Lake-1 and Khajiguda Lake. Yapral Lake has lost 86% of its area, Jillelaguda Lake and Gurram Cheruvu have both decreased by 85%, while Kompally Lake has reduced by 84%. Bandlaguda Lake now covers just 83% of its original size, and Old Alwal Pond and Palle Cheruvu have each lost 82%. Injapur Cheruvu has shrunk by 80%.
An analysis of the locations of severely encroached lakes reveals that most of them were outside the jurisdiction of the former Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad or the former Municipal Corporation of Secunderabad. Rapid development and weak regulatory mechanisms under gram panchayats or smaller municipalities allowed land grabbers to convert these lakes into residential colonies. In contrast, lakes like Hussainsagar and Miralam, situated in the heart of the city, experienced less impact, with shrinkages of 21% and 32%, respectively. There were only two notable exceptions: Chennapuram Cheruvu, a fish pond near Dammaiguda, and Hakimpet Lake. While Hakimpet Lake likely benefited from the protection of the nearby air force station, Chennapuram Cheruvu actually grew in size by 18%.
