Take steps to curb disasters, says HC

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the Hyderabad district collector to take necessary steps to prevent and control the man-made disasters like the recent fire accident in Numaish, as he had the authority over all the departments of the district.

The bench of Chief Justice T. B. Radhakrishnan and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy was dealing with a PIL filed by an advocate Mr Khaja Aijazuddin who sought directions against the president and other members of an exhibition society for not obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the fire department to conduct the Numaish exhibition and asked for a CID inquiry into the fire accident which occurred in January.

The bench directed the district collector to be present in the court to help the court arrive at a foolproof disaster management plan in respect of holding an exhibition from next year onwards.

“Con-vene a joint conference with officials of various relevant departments like police, fire, electricity, the Pollution Control Board, GHMC etc. and elicit their views on the matter. Then prepare a cohesive report and furnish it to the court”, the bench said.

Reminding all about the powers wielded by the District Collector, the court said that the IAS officercan control all over the district administration as he had magisterial powers to maintain law and order as well as to impose preventive sections of Criminal Procedure Code.

Meanwhile, the petitioner submitted that the management of exhibition was not concerned about the safety of visitors and vendors.

The bench posted the case to two weeks for perusing the report of the Collector and also to hear him in person.