Kaleshwaram-like miracle can be done on Musi river: Telangana High Court

Hyderabad: Concerned over the delay in revival of Musi river, the Telangana High Court on Monday decided to hear all the pending petitions which have became a hindrance to the work of the officials.

Some persons who have encroached into the Musi river have approached the High Court and obtained a stay order which has hamstrung officials.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Rag-havendra Singh Chauhan and A. Abhishek Reddy was dealing with two PILs that sought revival of the Musi river.

The court felt that the government was not serious in going ahead with river clean-up.

“The Chairman and Director of the Musi River Flood Development Authority, during the meetings held with me assured that the stretch of 5 km of the Musi river which flows in front of the High Court will be cleaned and encro-achments removed. The High Court is waiting for the assurance to be fulfilled,” the Chief Justice said adding that there were no stay orders on the work on this stretch.

Justice Chauhan said, “We are forced to breathe the terrible air... we do not know what chemicals we are breathing and what adverse affects it will have on our health, apart from the mosquito menace. We are not able to hold the meetings on the administrative side in the evening hours due to the mosquito menace.”

The bench expressed dismay that no lake in the state had potable water. “We the citizens of this state are polluting our lakes and the environment, imperilling our lives.”

Referring to the immersion of idols in the lakes, particularly Hussainsagar, Justice Chauhan said, “God never said that we should live in a dirty environment. There should be concept of purity. I can assure that the condition of our lakes are horrible.”

Citing the examples of Rajasthan where the government had taken the initiative to clean eight lakes, Gujarat where the Sabar-mati was cleaned up and of the Gomti in Lucknow, the Chief Justice asked the Telangana state government why it cannot do it.

Expressing confidence that the government was capable to reviving the Musi, the Chief Justice said, “When the government can create a miracle like the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, why can’t it take up the Musi river issue? It is lagging behind due to the lack of will power.”