HYDERABAD: The High Court of Telangana comprising of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy on Wednesday took the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to task for filing an affidavit regarding the removal of encroachments on roads, labelling it as an “eyewash”.
While giving one more opportunity to the GHMC, the court then directed the body to ensure that all encroachments are removed and asked for a tabulated statement on the same.
It also said that any non-compliance will be taken seriously. The bench was hearing a PIL seeking clearance of encroachments on footpaths in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. “What kind of an affidavit is this? Are you serious? This is an eyewash,” the CJ said. The bench said it hoped the authorities would present details of the length of pavements encroached and how much of that was cleared. The GHMC counsel said the authorities would inspect the sites and clear the encroachments if the court gave an order. “Do not ask permission of the court on such matters. You have not done anything since the time last order was passed seven months ago,” the CJ said.
GHMC counsel began explaining that the GHMC staff was occupied with Covid-19 vaccinations. Stating that vaccination was an important task assigned to the GHMC employees, the lawyer sought time of two weeks to comply with the HC orders. The bench then said that each of the five zonal commissioners of GHMC should separately file affidavits with date-wise details of the removal encroachments.