GO 111 scrapped, panel to frame guidelines

A total 1.32 lakh acres of land which came under catchment of two reservoirs, freed from the development regulations

The State government issued orders on Wednesday scrapping the GO 111, and constituting a high-level committee to frame guidelines and detailed regulations for development of the area that comes under the catchment area of the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs.

With the scrapping of the GO, a total 1.32 lakh acres of land in 84 villages which came under the reservoirs’ catchment area, has been freed from the development regulations imposed since 1996. The government has sought to justify the decision to scrap the GO, saying that the dependability of these reservoirs for drinking water has come down to 1.25 per cent now, compared to 27.59 per cent when the GO was issued.

Withdrawal of the GO is subject to the condition that the water quality of the two reservoirs is not impacted in any manner. Efforts should be initiated by the government to improve the water quality, including installation of STPs, diversion channels to carry the treated water, maintenance of groundwater quality, minimisation of pollution by agricultural run off, among others.

The committee constituted to frame guidelines for development and infrastructure in the area will be headed by Chief Secretary, and have the Special Chief Secretary, MA&UD, Special Secretary, Finance, Special Chief Secretary, I&CAD, Managing Director, HMWS&SB, Member Secretary, TSPCB and Director, Planning, HMDA as members.

The committee’s terms of reference include suggesting measures for protection and prevention of pollution, broad guidelines for zoning, including earmarking of green zones, modalities for development of trunk infrastructure such as roads, major drains, STPs, diversion drain and others in the area, means of resource mobilisation for the same, appropriate institutional framework to take up the infrastructure in order to regulate the development, and necessary regulator measures to be insisted to grant layout or building permissions, necessary changes in legal framework, and others.

The order does not stipulate any timeframe for recommendations, but seeks report at the earliest.