HYDERABAD: In a significant development, the Telangana High Court has directed the state government to finalise the Full Tank Level (FTL) of the Ramanthapur Pedda Cheruvu and issue a formal notification within six months.
The decision comes as part of a long-standing legal dispute surrounding the preservation and protection of lakes in Hyderabad, with the Ramanthapur Pedda Cheruvu at the centre of the issue.
Before issuing the final notification, the court ordered that all affected individuals, including 152 petitioners whose houses and residential complexes are located within the proposed FTL, be given a hearing within three weeks. These residents, hailing from Habsiguda, Nallakunta, and Ramanthapur, fear demolition by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) due to the potential encroachments within the FTL. The court emphasised the need for these hearings before any final action is taken.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao was adjudicating a 2005 writ petition, which stemmed from a letter written by Dr K L Vyas, a retired professor and former head of the Hindi Department at Osmania University. Dr Vyas’s letter highlighted the alarming degradation of Hyderabad’s lakes, which were once vital for the city’s water supply but have since been reduced in number due to neglect and illegal encroachments. The letter noted that out of the 532 lakes that once existed in Hyderabad, only 170 remain, exacerbating the city’s water crisis.
In his petition, Dr Vyas accused officials from the Uppal municipality, Panchayat Raj department, HMDA, and Pollution Control Board (PCB) of turning a blind eye to the rampant encroachments and illegal constructions on lake beds. He further alleged that local revenue officials, in connivance with real estate developers, issued illegal pattas (land grants) to poor people, enabling them to build homes within the FTL of the Ramanthapur lake. The petition sought the cancellation of these pattas and the restoration of the lake to its original status.
During the hearing, a senior counsel representing one of the 152 petitioners informed the court that the FTL of the lake spans an area of 17 acres and 26 guntas. However, government authorities have already constructed a road on one acre and 17 guntas of this land, further reducing the size of the lake. The counsel blamed the apathy and negligence of various government departments for the shrinking size of the lake, leaving many residents facing the threat of demolition.
Additional Advocate General Mohd Imran Khan acknowledged the issue and requested the court to set a timeline for finalising the FTL, which the government would adhere to.