Activists of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) warn that that if the Hussain Sagar Lake is completely cleaned up, it might spark a tragedy that could be as catastrophic as the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984.
 
Addressing newsmen, BV Subba Rao, founding- member of SOUL, and some political leaders, explained that the government’s plan of cleaning the lake by dewatering and refilling it with rain water was bizarre. “This could be as dangerous as the Bhopal Gas tragedy.
 
Unwanted gases lie on the lake bed, which is suppressed due to water pressure. If the lake is dried out, than the gas may spread like wildfire and lead to loss of lives and property,” said Subba Rao. Environmentalist Prof K Purshottam Reddy said that cleaning of Hussain Sagar Lake should be taken up by initially cleaning the nalas, which flow into it.
 
“We have many ideas and mechanisms to clean the lake without taking the water out of it. But the government should pay heed,” he said. Dr Lubna Saraswath, SOUL convener, wondered how the government came up with this “illogical” idea of cleaning the lake.
 
 “We can’t survive without water bodies and it is high time that we ask the authorities to revive the 2002 Walta Law,” she said. Lubna also voiced her anger against the public who use lakes to dump garbage and sought a mechanism that penalises such offenders.