HYDERABAD: Lubna Sarwath, Hyderabad-based environmental and lake activist, has alleged that Ranga Reddy district officials falsely de-recognized a water body at Puppalaguda village in Rajendranagar mandal. The officials concerned have denied the claim.
Sarwath wrote a letter to the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Authority (MAUD), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and other senior officials from the Revenue Department on Monday, alleging that the former District Collector of Ranga Reddy district overlooked and thereby de-recognised the presence of a water body at a land parcel, influencing the way the land is used.
When contacted, Sarwath alleged that the District Collector of Ranga Reddy had sent a letter to the HMDA commissioner in 2017, in which it was concluded that there is no water body in survey number 285 in Puppalaguda.
Sarwath pointed out that as per HMDA Master plan 2031, survey number 285 in Puppalaguda village was notified as a water body. She attached the pictures from the master plan and also Google Earth pictures from the years 2016 and 2017, suggesting the presence of a water body at the land parcel, in her mail to the government authorities. Sarwath said, “As per the Supreme Court orders in Hinch Lal Tiwari vs Kamala Devi case, no officials can use any water zone for other purposes, even if it has dried down.
It is because, after the dry season is over, the rainwater automatically moves towards the site of the water body.” She added the water body was quite visible in 2016, but then the officials allowed it to be encroached. “However, the lake bounced back in 2019,” she said. However, a senior Ranga Reddy district revenue official brushed off her allegations. They said that there is no water body as per revenue records in the mentioned area and that the said land was sold to private persons.