HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court questioned the Nirmal district and municipal authorities about the measures taken up by them to prevent illegal encroachment of lakes. The division said that “we don’t need appearance of officials , we want action”. The bench comprising Justice A Rajasekhar Reddy and Justice T Vinodhkumar, on Wednesday, directed the authorities to fix buffer zone and full tank level (FTL) for 11 lakes in Nirmal. “Mention the survey numbers in prohibited list and inform the municipal authorities to not give building permission for the said lands,” the bench ordered. By the next date of hearing, respondent authorities must take all steps to prevent encroachments and file a comprehensive report, the bench said, and added, “Action should not be limited to just papers, it should be implemented at the ground level.”
Concrete steps
The bench warned the authorities that if concrete steps were not taken, condition of Nirmal own would be similar to Warangal soon. “We had heavy rains last year and this year again, and what happened there is for everyone to see. In absence of lakes, the water has nowhere to go” the bench observed. The Telangana High Court directed the Nirmal district authorities to file a fresh ‘Action Taken Report’ on encroachments and to ensure that the lakes were not encroached upon by real estate sharks. The matter was posted to October 25.