HYDERABAD: A division bench of the High Court comprising justice L Narasimha Reddy and justice KG Shankar on Friday granted a limited stay on the grant of lease by the mines department for sand quarrying in Cheyyaru river in Kadapa district.
Dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by two agriculturists from Kadapa district with a request to set aside the lease granted for sand quarrying, the bench felt the need to verify the ground reality near Cheyyaru river and gave a limited stay and posted the case for hearing after Sankranti vacation.
The petitioners, G Gopinath Reddy and T Narasimha Reddy, requested the court to direct the lessee to forbear extracting any sand or taking it away from the Komarunipalle sand reach in Nandaluru mandal in the district.
People, who have cultivable lands in Siddavaram, Kothapalli of Rajampeta, Penagaluri and Nandaluru mandals with Cheyyaru river as the major irrigation source, apprehend depletion of river water and adverse effect on cultivation due to extraction of sand.
About 30 villages are dependent on the river for irrigation and drinking purposes.