Based on what law Durgam Cheruvu FTL area was fixed: HC to government

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by a 50-year-old woman, L. Urmila Devi, stating that the authorities had shown the FTL area of the tank as 160 acres.

Telangana High Court on Friday sought to know from the State government what criteria it had followed to fix the full tank level (FTL) area of Durgam Cheruvu in Hyderabad.

A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao directed the Government Pleader for Revenue to explain to the court by Monday the statute or order it had relied on to fix the FTL area of Durgam tank. The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by a 50-year-old woman, L. Urmila Devi, stating that the authorities had shown the FTL area of the tank as 160 acres.

But the ‘Descriptive Memoirs’ of the Irrigation department showed it as 65.12 acres. The petitioner contended that her private property (plot 79 in Amar Co-operative Housing Society Limited in Guttala Begumpet in Serilingampally of Rangareddy district) had come within FTL jurisdiction of Durgam Cheruvu with the officials claiming it as 160 acres.

This claim of the officials was against the rules of Telangana Survey and Boundaries Act, she maintained. She sought a direction to the authorities to adhere to 65.12 acres as FTL jurisdiction of the tank as mentioned in the Descriptive Memoirs. When the GP for Revenue informed the bench that Durgam Cheruvu’s FTL extent was more than 160 acres, the CJ insisted on an explanation as to how authorities fixed it.

“Is there any statutory sanction or is it provided under any order of the State government... which procedure have you followed in fixing the FTL area,” the bench asked the government counsel. The CJ referred to a PIL petition over illegal encroachments of water bodies in and around Hyderabad. Recalling the directions issued by it in the matter, the bench said the government was instructed to furnish details of the FTL areas of all water bodies in and around Hyderabad.

The CJ remarked that allowing the present writ petition would open floodgates for filing more pleas with similar content. The bench made it clear to the government that it should explain what laws were followed to fix the FTL of Durgam Cheruvu. If no specific procedure or Act was adhered to in earmarking the FTL, a specific order or law had to be put in place for such purpose, the bench said.

Published - September 21, 2024 03:40 am IST