The National Green tribunal has ordered that a committee look into the contentious matter of a luxurious farmhouse with a pool built allegedly for Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao in a restricted zone near reservoirs supplying water to Hyderabad.
The Southern Bench of the tribunal headed by Judicial Member Justice K. Ramakrishnan & Expert Member Sri Saibal Dasgupta on Friday issued notices to the Telangana government and Municipal Administration Minister for allegedly violating a 1996 government order that prohibits any construction in the catchment areas of Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar reservoirs within a 10 km radius.
The petition, filed by Congress leader Revanth Reddy who sought Rao’s resignation to facilitate fair probe, states the farmhouse has been built in a bioconservation zone near Janwada village of Ranga Reddy district.
The NGT has ordered formation of a fact-finding committee – comprising members from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, the state irrigation department, the Telangana State Pollution Control Board, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and lake officials – and sought a report within two months.
In March, Reddy had released aerial images of the farmhouse and had alleged that it belongs to Rao even though it is registered in someone else’s name. The images were shot using a drone camera. Afterwards, a case was filed against six people for using drone cameras without permission and the Congress leader was sent to jail for a week.
Read the Order here;
Revanth-Reddy-KTR-Case-5.6.2020-India Legal Bureau