HC puts state on notice over KBR Park
Petitioners say Union govt notification to facilitate SRDP works is ‘illegal’
The Telangana High Court on Monday issued notices to the state government, asking it to respond within four weeks about the future of Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) Park, following the recent notification of the Union government, which recommended amendments to the earlier Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) norms.
The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Hima Kohli was dealing with a PIL challenging the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 27 October 2020, announcing the KBR park and its surrounding area as ESZ. The petitioners said that the notification was illegal and did not serve the purpose of a Buffer Zone, around an ecologically sensitive zone like a national park, to ensure that the areas inside the zone were protected and no construction activity took place around the zone.
The state government, in 2018, had decided to revise the ESZ of KBR Park to between 3 metres and 29.8 metres of its surrounding to facilitate the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) works.
According to its decision, the Telangana state government forwarded a draft file to the Union Environment Ministry for issuing a notification inviting objections and suggestions from the citizens.
But the activists approached the NGT, challenging the draft notification.
However, in 2020, the Union government issued a notification recommending amendments to the norms for Eco Sensitive Zones and its surroundings.