Hyderabad: The National Green Tribunal has ordered the state government to file a counter to a petition alleging that Himayatsagar and Osmansagar faced a threat due to construction of illegal buildings.
The tribunal has given the government time till October 26 to file its affidavit. The petition filed by Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust chairman Thakur Rajkumar Singh of Serilingampally named the Telangana government, HMDA and Ranga Reddy revenue officials. Mr Singh alleged that GO 111, which mandates a 10-km buffer zone around the two lakes has been violated, and that there was a clear threat to Himayatsagar and Osmansagar due to the construction of illegal buildings.
Mr Singh said the matter came up before the NGT on Monday. “The government has not filed a counter informing its stand. The other party has been demanding hydrological studies along the catchment area. The NGT ordered the government to file the counter by October 26, otherwise the case will be decided on merits,” he said.
Village sarpanches and politicians, including former home minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy’s son Kaushik Reddy, had impleaded in the case and sought the appointment of a committee for fresh hydrological studies aimed at amending the GO.
GO 111, issued in March 1996, prohibits industries, major hotels, residential colonies or other establishments that generate pollution in the catchment of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar up to 10 km from the full tank level of the lakes.
