HYDERABAD: A bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar, on Wednesday, began hearing a PIL that has far-reaching implications for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The PIL, filed by Telangana Jana Samithi president Prof M Kodandaram Reddy, urges the court to declare the recurrent inundation in both the States due to a swollen Godavari River as a national disaster caused by the construction of Kaleshwaram and Polavaram projects.
The PIL also urges the court to form an expert committee tasked with evaluating the damage inflicted by the Kaleshwaram project’s construction, provision of compensation to the victims affected by these projects and the construction of protective embankments and walls in areas like Mancherial and Bhadrachalam.
Counsel for the petitioner told the court that the matter had initially been brought before the Supreme Court. However, upon considering the petitioner’s plea, the Supreme Court directed them to pursue the matter within the purview of the Telangana High Court.
The PIL contends that the districts of Mancherial, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu, Peddapalli and Komaram Bheem in Telangana have been consistently plagued by inundation due to the construction activities, leading to substantial losses in terms of crops, property, and overall livelihood. The petitioner underscores the lack of concrete preventive measures by both Telangana and AP to mitigate the recurrent inundation during the monsoon seasons.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the bench issued notices to the secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the member-secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority as well as the chief secretaries of Telangana and AP. The respondents were directed to file their counters within four weeks.