HYDERABAD: Hyderabad city was once known as ‘City of Lakes'. Now, most of the lakes are either encroached or vanished. However, in a heart-warming gesture, an entire school in Hyderabad has adopted a lake and are cleaning and saving it by raising funds on its own.
Meedikunta Lake is in Miyapur area on the western side of Hyderabad city. The pictures (before & after) of Meedikunta Lake are striking. A private school - Fountainhead School - near the lake took up the mantle to clean and restore the lake to its pristine beauty.
However, instead of approaching various government departments for funds, the school right from the management, teachers, students & parents decided to pool in contributions and started restoration work in the end of 2019 till March 2020 before the school closed due to Covid-19 lockdown.
As the rainy season started, freshwater began to fill into the lake making the sight more beautiful.
“A Good school should always contribute in creating a good neighbourhood and impact the communities in many optimistic ways. I believe that our actions should speak to set an example for future generations,'' said Meghana Musunuri, founder & correspondent, Fountainhead Global School, who also contributed a major chunk of amount for this work.
Students on their part came up with the idea of hosting a 5K run among other initiatives to collect funds. The idea behind involving students on every step was to inculcate a sense of ownership in what they believe is the right thing to do.
“As a Head Girl, I can say this initiative meant a lot to our students and was important as it is our first time doing something at this scale. I learnt how to constantly motivate my friends and the rest of our students, coordinate with teachers and parents, involve the neighbouring communities, presenting our project to collaborate with experts and raise awareness. We learnt many solutions to revive a lake but we choose one that would best suit our Urban lake. All this is not easy and it got more challenging due to COVID-19. But I am glad that we are able to continue the project and will be able to fully revive it in no time. I created a mascot and called it 'Cheruv' to protect the lake,'' Bilvoa Vunnam, student & Head Girl, said.
In a good show of solidarity, all the parents too joined the # Save Meedikunta Lake campaign.
“Reviving lakes and water bodies are needed for our future generation and one such initiative we are proud to be a part. Can you believe this school has involved their own students not only to create awareness about the project but, also to raise funds for the same? They have taken efforts to understand the gravity of the problem and the impending need to save one such waterbody in Miyapur- the Meedikunta Lake," Sapna Karthik, parent, said.
Today, the lake has been cleaned, a bund has been created and further work to stop other contaminated water inlets are happening. It now looks serene and beautiful. And when the students return to school after the Covid-19 pandemic, they will have something to be proud of.
