HYDERABAD: The proposed scrapping of GO 111 if implemented will lead to a catastrophic impact on the ambient air quality of Hyderabad and its neighbourhood with the temperature rising between two and five degrees Celsius.
The GO 111 bans construction activity in 84 villages within a radius of 10 km of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar across the rivers Esi and Musi.
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Warning of the danger facing the city, eminent geophysicist Prof G Ramadass, who is also emeritus professor at Osmania University, told TOI: “Once GO 111 is scrapped, there will be massive building activity around the two lakes affecting the greenery, top soil and local hydrogeological conditions. The weathered zone in these villages facilitates the movement and storage of groundwater through a network of natural joints, lineaments and dykes, which are conspicuous elements of the structural fabric of the region. And this delicate geological fabric will collapse.”
He said the thickness of the weathered/fractured zone and the aquifer conditions in the region will change very rapidly, which will affect groundwater availability and also result in deforestation.
“There will be a reduction in oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide. Any increase in carbon dioxide level will lead to rise in temperature by two to five degrees Celsius. Any increase in temperature will affect the ecosystem around Osmansagar and Himayatsagar. Damage to their catchment will result in reduced recharge of groundwater,” prof Ramadass warned.
He said that the two mega water bodies that have been protecting Hyderabad from flash floods will die a slow death even if construction is restricted to a five-km radius from the present 10 km.
Several bird and animal species will also disappear from these lakes, he said.
Prof Ramadass said the Musi drainage system can be considered to consist of five tributary sub-basins — Osmansagar and Himayatsagar, Mir Jumla Saroornagar, Uppal and Hussainsagar, and other sub-basins of lower order. The drainage pattern over the entire region is sub-parallel to dendritic system, he said.
“The straight courses of nalas and streams are controlled by geological features such lineaments, faults, joints and fractures. In Hyderabad, groundwater occurs under phreatic conditions in shallow weathered zone and under semi-confined to confined conditions in the fractured and sheared zones at deeper levels,” he said, warning that any massive construction near the lakes will tamper the existing geological conditions leading to untold suffering for people.
Prof Ramadass said that the increase of urbanisation around Hyderabad already had a bad environmental impact on the city.
“Groundwater depletion has been steep and people are drilling borewells up to 1000 feet in search of water table. Depletion of groundwater results will see an increase in water pollution. Any change in the land use under catchment of water bodies will result in more impervious area and rainwater runoff leading to flash floods,” he added.
