Expressing dissatisfaction over the response of officials in protection of Ramanthapur Peddacheruvu (tank) in Hyderabad, Telangana High Court on Tuesday instructed Municipal Administration and Urban Development Secretary to file an affidavit on the steps taken to preserve the water body.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar, hearing a writ petition filed in 2005 over protection of water bodies in and around Hyderabad in general and Ramanthapur tank in specific, directed that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) be impleaded as respondent in the petition. A notice should be sent to HMDA by email, the bench ordered.
The bench directed GHMC Commissioner and IAS officer Ronald Rose, who appeared before the bench on Tuesday following instruction from the bench during the previous hearing, to appear personally again on Thursday in the matter. Mr. Rose informed the court that GHMC had completed demarcation of Ramanthapur water body’s Full Tank Level (FTL). But it was the HMDA which had to notify the FTL, he told the court.
The bench instructed the GHMC Commissioner to fence the tank once its FTL was notified and take steps to de-silt it enhancing its water holding capacity. The officer should undertake tree plantation in the tank’s catchment areas to check soil erosion. He should ensure that the water body was not contaminated by drainage and effluents and control the menace of mosquitoes and stray dogs, the bench said.
Initially, the bench said the Medchal Malkajgiri district Collector should appear before it on Thursday to explain why the tank’s FTL was not notified as the government counsels said it was the Revenue authorities who should notify it. However, the bench in its final order said the HMDA should be impleaded as respondent as FTL notification was its responsibility.
A professor of Osmania University K.L. Vyas wrote a letter in 2005 to the HC stating that the number of lakes in and around Hyderabad had dwindled to 170 from 532. He sought a direction to protect Ramanthapur tank, which was spread over 26 acres, stating that it was being illegally encroached upon. The illegally occupied FTL area was being used as dumping yard, the professor said in the letter. The HC took up the letter as PIL petition.
