Realty bites into city lake areas

There has been a spurt in real estate activity in several villages covered under the GO 111 which restricts development in the 10-kilometre radius of twin water bodies of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar.

Besides increase in transactions by 10-15 per cent, the local registration and revenue offices are flooded with enquiries by realtors about relaxation of stringent norms of construction in 84 villages covered under the GO.

Enquiries by this newspaper revealed that the rush is fallout of recent develop- ments, which included several ruling party elected representatives stepping up pressure on Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to amend the GO allowing constructions downstream on par with other areas.

There are other coincidences also like Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu declaring that he would amend the GO 111 if voted to power and some people “affected” by the stringent GO raising the demand for implementation of a report that favoured relaxation of rules in the downstream.

The Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI) which earlier conducted a study recommended to the government that activities in the downstream of the water bodies could be allowed while stringent norms should continue in the catchment areas.

The EPTRI also suggested that treatment plants should be set up to prevent water pollution.

Recently, a Division Bench of the High Court comprising acting Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar took a serious note of illegal structures and intended to appoint a committee to monitor the measures initiated for the protection of the water bodies.

“The argument that activity in downstream can be allowed is wrong. There will be air pollution and groundwater pollution which ultimately lead to contamination of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar. We opposed any modification for the GO,” said S. Jeevananda Reddy, an environmental expert who approached High Court for effective implementation of the GO 111.

“Secondly, the GO 111 was issued on instructions from the Supreme Court and the state government should seek the apex court’s permission for any amendment,” he added.