Hyderabad: Hyderabad might flood by 2050 if the government approves regularisation of illegal lands, stated the Telangana High Court while hearing a petition against the implementation of Land Regularization Scheme (LRS) on Thursday.
The Public Interest Litigations (PILs), filed by an NGO- Forum for Good Governance, challenged government order 131 issued on August 31 for regularisation of unapproved and illegal layouts under the LRS-2020.
The High Court also said that the government’s claim that the regularising lands were for “development” was incorrect.
Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, while referring to the LRS-2020, noted: “Surveys claimed that nearly 45% of Hyderabad city was submerged due to the recent torrential rains and 80% of water bodies disappeared in the city, and full-tank levels of all lakes were mushroomed with constructions — either approved or unapproved. If you allow them under the regularisation scheme, then by 2050, the whole of Hyderabad will be flooded.”
The court lashed out at Telangana government and said that the government’s action appears to be violating the laws by implementing various LRS schemes every five years.
“The Telangana’s high court mentioned that the government was introducing the LRS scheme every five years (LRS was introduced in 2008, 2015 and 2020) and asked the Advocate General of Telangana state if LRS implementation will deter unauthorised layout developers,” a report in The News Minute said.
The court also asked if the violators will be bound to the law if the government itself approves their actions under the LRS and BRS (Building Regularisation Schemes).
Watch the Siasat Daily YouTube video on how encroachments are the real cause behind Hyderabad flood.
Furthermore, the court asked Advocate General BS Prasad, appearing for the Telangana government, to file their counter affidavit.
As the government asked for two weeks’ time to file their contention, the court issued notices to the Telangana Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries of Municipal Administration and Panchayat Raj, and Commissioners of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to respond to the petitioners. The matter was posted for the next hearing on November 12. Meanwhile, the High Court refused to sanction a stay order on the scheme.
The LRS scheme was introduced earlier in September by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao and has been opposed by activists and opposition parties.
Activists argue that the LRS violates various sections of the Telangana Urban Areas (Development) Act, 1975; Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act, 1955; Telangana Town Planning Act, 1920; State Municipalities Act, 2019; HMDA Act, 2008; and Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.
According to the News Minute, over 24 lakh residents filed applications under the Land Regularisation Scheme (LRS), which ended on October 31.