HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar, on Tuesday expressed strong dissatisfaction with the casual approach of D Ronald Rose, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner, regarding the steps taken to protect the Ramanthapur Pedda Cheruvu from potential encroachment by real estate developers.
“You wrote a letter to the Revenue Department in 2016, followed by a reminder. You don’t even know the exact date on which the letter was written. In this interregnum, you want two or three builders to take up construction work in the waterbody. Do not provoke us by giving such answers. We will take serious exception to your reply and recommend to the higher authority to initiate action against you for not performing your statutory duty,” the CJ said.
He emphasised the importance of protecting water bodies for future generations and dismissed the GHMC commissioner’s assertion that he had only assumed the post three months ago, stating that he could not shift the responsibility to other officials. The division bench was hearing a writ petition filed by KL Vyas, a retired professor, seeking a directive to protect 532 waterbodies in the State from encroachment.
CJ Aradhe also criticised the government pleader for revenue and standing counsel for GHMC for failing to adequately brief the GHMC commissioner on the matter, which hindered his ability to provide a proper response to the high court’s queries. The CJ advised Rose to be better prepared before appearing in court, rather than relying on government pleaders. It was adjourned to October 12.
Telangana HC asks government reply on crop insurance
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday issued notices to several key officials, directing them to provide counter-affidavits within six weeks regarding the implementation of the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme. Chief Justice Alok Aradhe said, “The State is only granting `10,000 to the farmers as compensation per acre... If there is any other scheme that benefits farmers more, it should be adopted, such as the PMFBY.”
Govt reply on spurious seeds sought
A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar, on Tuesday, issued notices to several key government officials regarding the sale of spurious seeds across the State and instructed them to submit their responses within six weeks
‘What is the status of girls hostel?’
A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday issued notices to several key officials asking for their response within six weeks regarding the living conditions at the girls’ hostel in Nizamia General Hospital. This action by the bench came in response to a PIL initiated by converting a newspaper article, highlighting dismal living conditions in the hostel, published on August 29 into a suo motu PIL