HYDERABAD: Two months after it was constituted, the two-member committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to look into the dewatering of Hussainsagar finally made a trip to the city on Saturday to take stock of the situation. Their visit was, predictably, seen as a case of too little too late by environmentalists, who rued that there was nothing much that the committee could do now to save the ancient water body.

Reason: the members, by their own admission, claimed they were 'powerless' and in no way could stall the Telangana government's dewatering plan. "We cannot deviate from our terms of reference fixed by the NGT. The petitioners/applicants in the case must again approach the NGT afresh for an appropriate order to halt the dewatering project," Devaraj Ashok, one of the two fact-finding committee members, told STOI.

While Ashok is a government pleader in the Karnataka High Court, the other member, S Mohan, is director of the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chennai. The two-member committee was appointed on May 29.

Incidentally, ever since the state government launched its ambitious dewatering programme — in the name of 'clean Hussainsagar' — the water level in the lake has dropped by over two metres.

"The belated visit of the members, almost two months after they were appointed by the NGT, has not served any purpose as the state authorities continue to dewater the lake clandestinely in the name of repairing sluice gates," lamented environmentalist Capt J Rama Rao. Complaining about the drop in the lake's water level, he also appealed for an immediate halt on the discharge of untreated toxic water into the lake from three outlets.

Former chief engineer M Dharma Rao raised a similar point. "What's painful is that the state government has already wasted Rs 1,000 crore in the name of setting up STPs to treat industrial effluents entering Hussainsagar. It is nothing but a farce. Now, there is nothing that we can do now but wait and watch," he said.

His observation did find resonance with S Mohan who, post a field inspection, agreed that "untreated water was entering Hussainsagar". The point is expected to be highlighted in the committee's report, to be submitted to the NGT before the next hearing in the case scheduled on July 31.

Meanwhile, what made matters worse was the complete cluelessness among government representatives who, when asked to give answers to the committee's list of questions, were left dumbfounded. They could provide no explanation for any of the 10 issues brought up by the NGT-appointed body immediately but sought time to respond.

Clearly, Hussainsagar's future looks anything but bright.

We cannot deviate from our terms of reference fixed by the NGT. The petitioners/applicants in the case must again approach the NGT afresh for an appropriate order to halt the dewatering project — Devaraj Ashok, fact-finding committee member

The belated visit of the members, almost two months after they were appointed by the NGT, has not served any purpose as the state authorities continue to dewater the lake clandestinely in the name of repairing sluice gates — Capt J Rama Rao, environmentalist.

