HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered an interim stay on the construction of the integrated municipal solid waste processing unit at Pyaranagar in Gummadidala mandal of Sangareddy district while allowing the ongoing survey and road construction to continue.
Justice K Lakshman was hearing a writ petition filed by one A Swarnalatha challenging the decision of the GHMC to set up the facility, allegedly without following due legal procedures and in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The petition also alleged that the GHMC planned a landfill at Pyaranagar.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel Kailash Nath PSS said the Pyaranagar village was located within 15 km of the Dundigal Air Base. He alleged that the authorities had not obtained the necessary environmental clearances or conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before proceeding with the project. He also stated that the Wing Commander of the air base had formally raised objections.
Kailash Nath contended that the project could lead to air and water pollution, as the site was adjacent to the Nallavally reserve forest. He also referred to a previous ruling by a division bench of the high court, which explicitly stated that solid waste cannot be dumped outside the GHMC limits, pointing out that Pyaranagar falls outside these limits.
Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy argued that the proposed facility was designed to separate waste and produce power, biogas and vermicompost rather than serve as a landfill. He maintained that since there would be no landfilling, environmental clearance was unnecessary. The A-G asserted that the objections raised by the air base were unfounded, as the operations would be conducted within closed premises, preventing bird activity that could interfere with aviation.
Justice Lakshman questioned the A-G regarding the previous ruling of the court and the concerns raised by the Wing Commander. The judge said that given these factors, an interim order restraining construction was necessary until the state government submitted its response.
The A-G then pointed out that the court had allowed the survey and road construction to proceed and reiterated that any residual waste from the facility would be transported to the Jawaharnagar dump yard.
To this, Justice Lakshman asserted that there would be no bar on the survey and road construction work. The matter was adjourned for 10 days for the authorities to file their counters.