Massive pollution levels turn Hyderabad's Hussainsagar Lake into a `virtual garbage bin'

The level of pollution in Hussainsagar Lake, the iconic water body of Hyderabad, has over the years become become a major issue of alarm because of the precipitation of monstrous proportions of heavy metals that have penetrated up to three metres into the lakebed.
Scientists have carried outr a study of the water, soil and sediment samples of the Lake before and after the immersion of Ganesh idols in September this year. They have warned that the pollution has extended to the 'deep earth crust'.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 22 December 2016.

The pollution has poisoned aquatic life and birds, as well as deep earth crust to a large extent. Samples had been collected from five different locations of the lake - Buddha Statue, Lumbini Park, Boats Club (Ranigunj), Necklace Road and NTR Garden.
These samples were analysed for different parameters like pH value, turbidity , total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). It was revealed that the lake's water scored very low in all these tests. This forced the researchers to describe the lake as a `virtual garbage bin'.
Incidentally, nearly 50,000 Ganesh idols are immersed in the lake during Ganesh Chaturthi festival and, most of these are made of plaster of Paris (PoP) with metallic paints that contain heavy metals. In addition, the flow of domestic sewage and industrial effluents all over the year have deteriorated the quality of water beyond purification.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Squirrels of Seattle, Boston and Toronto are stealing Christmas light bulbs

Petrol tanker crashes into other vehicles in Kenya - leaves at least 30 dead

Qantas to fly non-stop from Perth to London in 17 and a half hours


Moody and the half pant brigade (satire)

Lord Shiva cracks jokes and Durga fries samosas (satire)

Didi sharpens her weapons to conquer the Hindi belt (satire)


AR Rahman contender for Oscar nomination for Pele: Birth of a Legend

Julia Roberts of 'Pretty Woman' fame to star in her first TV series

Meryl Streep creates history with her 30th Golden Globes nomination


Suicide bomber kills at least 49 people in a military camp in Aden

US estimates that active ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria have dropped considerably

Syrian forces shoot dead 82 Aleppo civilians in their homes