HC Takes Suo Motu PIL On Jalpally Lake Encroachments

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti on Tuesday issued notice to the Chief Secretary and many senior officials to detail the steps they had taken to prevent land-grabbers from filling up the Jalpally and Umdasagar lakes and using land for real estate purpose.

Apart from the Chief Secretary, notices were issued to the principal secretaries of the departments of municipal administration and urban development and irrigation, the commissioners of GHMC, HMDA and the Lake Protection Committee, Jalapally municipality commissioner, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, and the collectors of Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts.

The High Court was dealing with a suo motu PIL, taken up on basis of news reports that under the guise of Metro Rail projects, encroachers had trespassed on the lake land and were filling the lake with sand and debris.

Justice M.G. Priyadarshini, judge of the Telangana High Court, had earlier addressed a letter to the Chief Justice, duly annexing the news reports and highlighted the rampant and illegal constructions in waterbodies across the city. Justice Priyadarshini sought a direction to the government to thwart the mafia so that the waterbodies are protected. The High Court took up the judge’s letter as a PIL and heard the matter on Tuesday.