HC tells govt to respond on PIL over ‘unauthorised’ structures

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Thursday asked the state govt to file its response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that claims illegal statue installations and unauthorised structures have been put up along the Miryalaguda–Huzurnagar main road in Suryapet district. A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin issued the direction while hearing a PIL by 97-year-old freedom fighter Bandla Pullareddy, who alleged that these statues and structures were not being cleared as part of the road-widening works.The bench told govt counsel to collect the relevant information from officials and place it before the court on the next hearing date, and the matter was adjourned.The petitioner contended that, rather than widening the road evenly on both sides from the central median, officials were increasing the width by 10 feet on one side, citing the need to safeguard certain structures, which was said to be causing losses to other landholders.The counsel also stated that even after representations were made, authorities had not removed the alleged unauthorised statues and structures on govt land beside the road.“The approved alignment had been altered and the project was being executed unilaterally,” the counsel submitted, requesting that the court instruct the authorities to carry out uniform widening by adding five feet on each side from the existing central median.