HC dissatisfied with govt.’s report on Durgam Cheruvu

Hyderabad High Court directs expert committee to assess government's compliance with Durgam Cheruvu protection measures.

The High Court on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the status report filed by the State government over the compliance with the short-term measures suggested by an expert committee to protect Durgam Cheruvu in Hyderabad.

A Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, while hearing a suo moto taken up PIL petition, observed that no timeline was specified in the compliance report filed by the State government.

The Bench directed the expert committee to visit Durgam Cheruvu and file a report on how and to what extent the short-term steps suggested by the committee were being implemented by the government.

The committee comprises National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, director Atul Narayan Vaidya, Irrigation and Command Area Development Principal Secretary and High Court secretary M. Shanti Vardhani. The committee, as per the Bench’s direction, would visit assess to what extent the short-term measures were being enforced for the protection of the lake.

The Bench instructed Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy to ensure the expenditure involving the visit of the expert committee to Durgam Cheruvu, including transportation and accommodation, were borne by the government. A police team should also accompany the expert committe during its visit to the lake.

The short-term measures suggested by the committee included stalling of illegal construction within full tank level area, stopping inflow of sewage into the lake, removal of silt in the lake, regular monitoring of storm water drains and imposition of fines on violations of any of the above measures.