The last night of 11/9/11 will be remembered for many years to come by the residents of some 8-10 colonies situated around Roopsagar Lake who had witnessed heavy water that flowed into their homes and farms which eventually blocked all roads and disconnected the whole outpost, with population of 1000-3000 people from the rest of the city.

The residents of New Keshav Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Prem Nagar, Ashirwad Nagar are a few among many colonies attached to the Roopsagar Lake passed their nights in fear; fear of being caught in heavy flood if the weakly constructed dam of the lake collides. They still have the fear of being caught between the outrageous water, heavily flowing through one small channel which is not enough to bear the increasing flow of water.

Umesh Chandra Sukhwal , a retired revenue officer in Nagar Parishad blames the administration for behaving deaf and dumb on this issue. He said that the water discharge system of Roop Sagar lake has failed completely. “We have been calling the district collector and many senior officers since last night but we get only one reply from them – ‘we are taking action’ but no action has been taken yet”, said Sukhwal.

Around the lake, many manmade barricades have been erected which stopped or changed the direction of water flowing but instead of solving the problem it has increased the trouble for the other residents.

One of the resident says, “I never saw so much water even in flood of 2006, this is something too much and too risky for every one living in the area.”

“Roop Sagar Lake neither has planned construction of its boundary wall nor the authorites have an exact statistics about how deep or wide the lake is”, says Shubham Jain a student of business management and a regular UT reader who informed us to raise to the issue.

Shubham Agarwal told UT, “We suggested the authority to construct a ring around the lake and make it another tourist destination. Sometimes back we had fought to save this lake to turn it into a dumping yard, now this is another fight but this time we are fighting for our lives.”

Since morning today, many officers visited the site and gave their statements but mere statement cannot exactly solve the problems of localties and the Lake Roop Sagar will not able to take another load of water if the rain of 11/9/11 reappears.

According to sources, more than 30 farms have been destroyed in the last night rain in this area; many empty plots become pool with 4-5 feet water.

The area is comprised of farmers who own fertilize lands and stays nearby lake while posh colonies are also being constructed around the lake. There are also some minor conflicts going around both indigenous and urban communities regarding the construction of the dam around lake Roop Sagar.

However, at present the past must be ignored to make a safe future for people of Roop Sagar who are living in fear. The administration has to play their cards now or it will be too late.