The tribunal emphasized the necessity of restoring natural drainage to prevent further environmental degradation and affirmed the lack of legal recognition for the lake status of Mazid Banda Cheruvu.

JUDGEMENT

Delivered by Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member

1. The above case has been Suo Motu registered by this Tribunal based on the news item published in The Hindu dated 06.12.2020 titled, “Lake encroachment in full swing at Mazid Banda”

2. It is alleged in the newspaper report that Mazid Banda Cheruvu is a notified lake in 2014 and as per the Full Tank Level (FTL) demarcated in the map, the lake extent is 12.52 acres. Large scale encroachment is being done into the lake area by miscreants apart from dumping waste in that area. Large scale construction is also going on inside the lake area thereby, reducing the catchment area of the lake which is likely to affect the environment.

3. It is also alleged in the report that as per the irrigation records, the lake receives its inflows upstream from Kudikunta on one side, and Pochamma kunta on the other, both within Kondappur village limits. Excess water from the lake flows into Gopi Cheruvu downstream. All its inflow and outflow channels have been heavily encroached and blocked by constructions. This has resulted in heavy flood in the area.

4. On going through the allegations made in the newspaper report, this Tribunal was satisfied that there arises a substantial question of environment which requires the interference of this Tribunal. Therefore, the matter was registered Suo Motu and in order to ascertain the genuineness of the allegations, this Tribunal appointed a Joint Committee comprising of the (1) District Collector - Hyderabad District, (2) Senior Officer from Irrigation and CAD Department, Hyderabad, Telangana, (3) Commissioner - Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) (4) Senior Officer from Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), (5) Telangana Lake Protection Committee and (6) Senior Officer from Telangana Sate Pollution Control Board to inspect the area in question and submit a factual as well as action taken report, if there is any violation found.

5. The Joint Committee was directed to go into the question of the extent of encroachment as per the notification issued with Full Tank Level (FTL), buffer zone if any, nature of encroachment if any, action taken against the encroachers, pollution caused due to deposit of garbage and discharge of untreated sewage, whether there is any encroachment in respect of inlet and outlet water channels which drains water to the lake and discharges excess water from other lakes and if there is any encroachment found, what is the nature of action taken by the authorities in order to mitigate the situation and also to remove the encroachments made.

6. The Joint Committee was also directed to ascertain as to whether the water quality in the lake has been affected on account of any illegal discharge of the sewage or effluents and if so, what are the remedial measures to be taken to rectify the same. The committee was further directed to ascertain as to whether there was any scheme for protecting such notified water bodies in the State of Telangana and if so, what is the stage of its implementation in the State.

7. The Joint Committee report was filed on 20.08.2021 based on their inspection dated 06.05.2021. The Joint Committee has submitted that originally a list of 501 Lakes where existing in old Hyderabad Urban Development Area (HUDA) and Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) areas and out of these 501 lakes, around 176 Lakes exist in the present GHMC area. The lake Mazid Banda is not among 501 lakes. It was also submitted that the identification of the lakes within GHMC area is taken up with the help of this 501 list and other relevant records and finally, a list of 185 lakes wer