Hyderabad: Expressing displeasure at the authorities concerned who are allegedly becoming dummies in the hands of the politicians, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday pulled up Ranga Reddy District Collector, questioning his inaction in protecting temples and government land at Balapur in the city.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, while dealing with a PIL by Devatalagutta Parirakshana Samithi vice president N. Ramreddy challenging the inaction of the authorities in preventing private parties from making constructions on the government land, asked what the Collector has been doing when 150 acres of government land was encroached by private parties and made construction by demolishing the temples.
The Bench directed the Collector to resume operations to retrieve the land from the encroachers within three months and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority to take a decision in accordance with law in regularising the constructions in the area.
The Bench directed the authorities concerned to take action against the encroachers and the Collector and the HMDA to submit the action taken reports to the Registrar General and the Registrar General has to place the reports before the Chief Justice.
P.S.P. Suresh Kumar, counsel for the petitioner, told the court that Pride India Builders Ltd., a real estate firm, has constructing the villas by demolishing the temples and other structures in 150 acres of government land and also lands belonging to some private individuals.
The Bench asked who was the responsible officer to protect government lands. When Y. Rama Rao, counsel for HMDA, said that the area falls under the HMDA limits, the Bench said that it is only a development authority and if the Collector would have taken steps at the initial stage, this situation would not have occurred.
H5
