Pointing at the reduction in lake area in last five years, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Monday directed the State government to place before it the two maps of the years 2014 and 2019 showing details of Khajaguda lake situated in Serilingampally mandal of Ranga Reddy district. The bench passed this order in a PIL, which was taken up based on a letter addressed to the Chief Justice by Lubna Sarwath, State general secretary to Socialist Party of India, alleging encroachment of various lakes in GHMC area particularly of Khajaguda lake. In the letter, she wrote that a concrete road was being laid in the Full Tank level of the lake, tinkering with its heritage identity.
Advocate M Pratap Kumar, appointed as amicus curiae in the case, in his report, submitted that there were two maps related to the lake. As per the map dated February 25, 2014, the lake consists of 38.04 acres of land, while the map dated September 18, 2019 shows only 37 acres. The bench then directed the authorities of HMDA and others concerned to submit the two maps before it for perusal, and posted the matter to July 21 for further hearing.