HYDERABAD: Pursuant to an earlier direction of the court, Nirmal District Collector Musharaff Faruqui appeared before the court on Monday in a PIL alleging encroachment of various lakes in the district. After hearing submissions of the Collector, the bench directed the officer to make Nirmal a role model for protection of lakes.
Noting that Nirmal is quite a volatile town and that the government has issued orders against illegal construction of religious structures, the bench made it clear that nobody is permitted to violate the law in the name of God.
The bench directed Faruqui to completely study the network of nalas in the district, conduct a survey, to take steps to remove all encroachments in about 10 lakes in Nirmal, and directed him to submit a report on the issue by December 4.
The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed this order in a PIL filed by an advocate seeking action against the land grabbers/realtors who are destroying the tank bed land of Jafur cheruvu (tank)/Kurranapet cheruvu at Nirmal village. The petitioner’s counsel Ch Naresh Reddy alleged that illegal constructions of temples both in and around the lakes are unabated in the district.
Referring to reports filed earlier by the Collector, the bench said the officer has filed a ‘cleverly worded report’ on the issue, but hasn’t addressed crucial issues.
Faruqui said a slaughterhouse constructed in a tank area (Ibrahim cheruvu) by a local community has been demolished and all illegal constructions have been stopped. A proposal was sent to the government for fencing the lakes, he added, and urged the court to grant some time tofile a detailed report. The bench asked him to take help of the irrigation department to get maps of lakes in Nirmal.