Telangana High Court Questions HMDA on Lake Protection
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court began hearing a case about protecting Ramanna Kunta Lake from illegal constructions on Wednesday. Chief Justice (CJ) Alok Aradhe asked the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Commissioner if all lakes in their area had been officially listed, as the court had ordered this on July 27, 2023.
HMDA Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmed, who attended the hearing via video conference, said there are 3,500 lakes in the HMDA area. Out of these, 2,525 lakes have been notified, and steps will be taken to notify the remaining lakes.
Ahmed mentioned that notifying the remaining lakes is challenging because illegal constructions have already been built near them. He asked for at least six months to complete the notifications but later requested four months.
The CJ refused to give HMDA six months or even four months to notify all the lakes. He emphasized that protecting these lakes is crucial for future generations and warned that delays could result in the loss of these water bodies.
The petitioner’s lawyer disputed Ahmed’s request, leading the CJ to caution the commissioner about making accurate statements in court, as false statements could have serious consequences.
Advocate-General A. Sudarshan Reddy informed the court that there are 3,532 lakes in the HMDA area. While final notifications have been issued for 230 lakes, preliminary notifications for 2,525 lakes have been published. Ahmed promised to issue final notifications for the remaining lakes within three months and submit a compliance report.
The CJ bench had recently summoned the HMDA Commissioner after learning from the petitioner’s lawyer that illegal constructions were still happening around the lake, despite previous court orders. Ahmed assured the court that these illegal constructions would be removed.
The case, filed by the Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust, seeks to protect the lake from encroachment and constructions in its buffer zone. The court has adjourned the hearing to November 4, 2024, for the filing of the compliance report by the HMDA commissioner.
