Cleaning of Ameenpur Lake to begin from June 28

Hyderabad, June 26 (INN): Two youth groups, Hyderabad Birding Pals and Phulkari, the ladies wing of the Telangana Punjabi Sabha, are joining hands with volunteers of the Telangana State Special Protection Force in the Ameenpur Lake Clean Up Campaign beginning Sunday (June 28).

The Campaign is supported by the GHMC, Collector and District Magistrate, Medak, District Police, Medak and the Gram Panchayat, Ameenpur.

With the arrival of seasonal migratory birds, following the onset of the monsoon, both groups are pledged to be involved in the cleaning up of the lake's periphery, protest nesting sites and spread awareness among college goers and high school students about the lake ecosystem that harbors a wide variety of birds.

About 162 species of birds flock to the Ameenpur lake. They include the Desert Wheatear, Greater Flamingos, White Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Small Pratincole, Oriental Pratincole, River Tern, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bronze Winged Jacana, Pheasant Tailed Jacana, Indian Eagle Owl, Spotted Owl, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Shirkra, Brahminy Kite, Black Kite, Black Winged Stilt, Greater Cormorant, Little Cormorant, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Coot, Northern Pintail, Mallad, Common Kingfisher, White Throated Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Red Munia, Indian Silverbill, Scaly Breasted Munia, Indian Robin, Common Kestrel, Pied Bushchat, Zitting Cisticola, Raptors, Common Hoopoe, Cattle Egret, Little Egret and Intermediate Egret.

Volunteers of the Hyderabad Birding Pals and other bird buffs have spotted some species of fishes and snakes in the 50 acre water sheet and the trees and shrubs in its environs spread over 100 acres. Emergence of factories, housing colonies and other encroachments, including mines, in the lake conservancy zone has posed environmental threats in the area around the lake.

As the lake abuts the TSSPF Academy, about 150 men of the security force are also participating in the endeavour to enrich the lake ecosystem. 'Our common goal in enriching the conservation system is to create conditions to welcome more birds to nest and feed in a cleaner lake in the near future,' says the TSSPF Director General Mrs.Tejdeep Kaur Menon.

Both Hyderabad Birding Pals and Phulkari are enlisting the support of other bird lovers to make the campaign a consistent effort. The three groups can be contacted at tejdeepmenon@gmail.com, hyderabadbirdingpals.com and sumeetsarna30@yahoo.com For specific individual responses, contact Tejdeep Kaur Menon, IPS on 8978684444, Ansuhman Jha on 98667 99133 or Harikrishna Adepu on 99893 33255.

Route towards Ameenpur Lake ' Lingampally X Road U turn, then right turn towards Sridevi Theatre, straight road towards Ameenpur Lake. Inspector Jangaiah may be contacted on 8978681383 for more details.