Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday asked the TS government whether it has notified the Kapra lake in Ranga Reddy district under Section 23 of the Water, Land and Trees Act.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice M. Ganga Rao was dealing with a PIL by Lakeview Residents Association, challenging the failure of the authorities to take steps for the protection of the Kapra lake from rampant discharge of sewage and garbage into it that is causing significant health and environmental hazards to the people residing beside the lake.
N. Vijay, counsel for the petitioner, contended Section 23 of the Act makes it mandatory for the authorities to notify important parks as heritage parks etc., and to take steps to prevent them from being destroyed. He said that the relevant Section specifies that Chief Secretary himself has to monitor this.
The PCB informed the court that the main cause of the contamination was sewage and garbage discharge. The ACJ asked the authorities to inform the court whether the government has notified Kapra lake under the Act and if so, explain the steps taken to protect the lake under the Act.
The bench said that if the lake was not notified, then explain the reason within two weeks.
