Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to ensure that no construction activity is allowed in the Full Tank Level (FTL) of Nallagandla lake. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K. Vijaya Lakshmi gave the direction on a PIL by Janam Kosam, an NGO represented by its president Kasireddy Bhaskar Reddy, as the authorities were not protecting the lake, but helping Aparna Construction and Estate Private Limited to illegally build a road and huge walls.
The lake would turn into a septic tank with the drain and sewerage from the 900-odd flats flowing into the lake. The petitioner said Nallagandla Pedda Cheruvu, covering about 89 acres, had been a perennial lake with sufficient water even during the peak summer. It also has a natural catchment on account of its valley-type location.
Counsel for the petitioner N. Harinath bought to the notice of the court that the Aparna Company had purchased shikam lands abutting the lake from farmers and constructed 600 flats and entire drainage and sewerage were diverted into the lake which was completely against norms. He alleged the firm had removed the boundary stones of the FTL and the tank bed had been filled with construction debris. Also it had encroached the tank area by 10 acres and built a huge compound wall.
