Shrinking Khajaguda Lake: Telangana HC seeks explanation from Hyderabad development body

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Monday directed the state's municipal administration department and its Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to explain within two weeks why the extent of Khajaguda lake in Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad shrunk by nearly 1.5 acres between 2014 and 2019.
The bench of chief justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and justice B Vijaysen Reddy that heard a PIL filed by social activist Lubna Sarwat also directed the HMDA to furnish the two maps it uploaded on its website earlier.The two maps are not available on HMDA website now.
The bench earlier appointed advocate MV Pratap Kumar as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.
He told the bench on Monday that there are allegations of constructions being allowed and raised in the full tank level (FTL) area of the lake.
He brought to the notice of the court about two maps pertaining to this lake uploaded by HMDA into its website on February 25, 2014. While one map that was signed by the authorities was showing the extent of the lake as 38.004 acres, the second map, an unsigned one, shows the extent as 38.40 acres. And there is a third map, uploaded by the same HMDA on September 19, 2019, showing the extent as 37 acres. The extent of the lake was reduced by nearly one and half acres, in the last five years, he said.
According to the petitioner, the state is taking up several works from the western boundary of the lake and up to the Biodiversity junction. Municipal minister KT Rama Rao too inspected several such developmental works like laying roads across lakes like Khajaguda lake etc, she said.
The bench summoned the signed and unsigned maps along with the latest map that was uploaded into the HMDA website. It also sought counters from the state and HMDA and posted the case to July 21 for further hearing. According to Lubna, the lake is known as Pedda Cheruvu in Khajaguda.
She alleged that several lakes are being filled this way in the name of developmental works and urged the court to intervene because several aesthetic heritage rocks are also being blasted for paving way for the development works like laying roads etc.
According to her the authorities are changing the maps of the lakes to justify their actions. She brought to the notice of the court about an earlier order of the high court that imposed a blanket ban on any development work. The HC in its previous order said that it will not allow even smaller deviations to be effected to the lake even for the purpose of public purpose, she said. In fact, Lubna said, the chief commissioner of land administration had issued a circular in September 2003 stating that all lands covered with water bodies should be included in the revenue department's prohibition list.