Telangana high court seeks state response on encroachments in Dharmasagar FTL

Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Wednesday directed the irrigation department and Nirmal district administration to explain their stand in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking removal of illegal constructions in the full tank (FTL) level of Dharmasagar tank in Nirmal Town.The PIL was filed by a local resident, N Shravan, highlighting the failure of authorities to curb illegal constructions within the lake's FTL limits. The petitioner alleged that despite formal complaints submitted to the revenue, irrigation, and municipal departments, no concrete steps were taken to remove or prevent the encroachments.Shravan's counsel pointed out that although show-cause notices were issued to certain individuals, there was a lack of effective follow-up. Consequently, unauthorised structures reportedly continued to rise within the notified FTL area without permits from the competent authorities.Alleging that authorities failed to act on the complaints and did not take any action on the illegal constructions, he filed the PIL seeking directions to remove the constructions from the FTL area.During the hearing, authorities informed the court that they had already written a letter to the lake protection committee to look into the legalities of the constructions that were in the FTL of the lake.Recording the submission, a bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin directed authorities to get instructions and adjourned the matter by four weeks for further hearing.