There are 184 lakes in GHMC limits

Amid increasing complaints about mosquito menace from different parts of the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) intensified its battle against the swarming and buzzing nuisance.

The civic body has come up with special plans for removal of water hyacinth, one of the prime breeding ground for mosquito, in 26 lakes with an estimated cost of Rs 7.65 crore.There are 184 lakes in GHMC limits and most of the lakes have been affected by water hyacinth. It has covered nearly 495 acres in the 26 lakes identified by the municipal corporation.To expedite works, GHMC officials decided to entrust the task of water clearing hyacinth in lakes with a spread of less than five acres area to its entomology department. At the same time, the exercise in lakes, which are spread over five acres, is to be handled by the lakes section in association with the Irrigation Department.

Despite municipal workers clearing the hyacinth in many water bodies, it has been surfacing and spreading again. In a few lakes, the water hyacinth was found to have resurfaced in just five days, said a senior official from GHMC.Unlike the previous years, the civic body now also decided to give the task of clearing water hyacinth to contractors for a period of three years.

This apart, heaps of hyacinth removed from the lakes would be dumped 3 km away from the water bodies or at any identified locations. The contractors are also likely to be asked to dump the cleared material at compost centres proposed by the IICT.

The entomology section had already cleaned 16 lakes and works were under progress at seven others. In addition to this, 220 workers were deployed to clear water hyacinth in Musi from Langer Houz to High Court. Fogging and anti-larval operations are also being taken up in different areas, officials said.