Telangana High Court seeks govt response on water shortage by Dec 9

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed the government to file a detailed counter- affidavit explaining the steps taken to tackle the water crisis across the State, amid concerns over severe shortages attributed to the El Nino effect. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Puthichira Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao on Thursday passed the direction on an interim application in a PIL. The bench directed the government to submit its response by December 9.

During the hearing, ACJ Koshy observed that the water scarcity was not a man-made situation; the government could not be blamed for the natural conditions causing it. The bench, however, sought details of the measures taken by the State to address the crisis.

The PIL was filed by Dr Cheruku Sudhakar, seeking directions to the Union and State governments to pay compensation to victims of the 2020 floods. In the present interim application, he sought directions to the Telangana government to ensure an adequate supply of drinking water to citizens in view of the drought.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel Chikkudu Prabhakar submitted that the El Nino effect had led to a serious water shortage across Telangana, particularly in Hyderabad and its IT corridor. He alleged that the government had failed to take effective measures to address the situation.

He submitted that severe water shortage had forced several hostels to close, compelling students to return to their hometowns. Responding to this submission, the ACJ observed that the closure of hostels itself indicated that the State was taking steps to address the water crisis.

Prabhakar submitted that 365 mandals in Telangana had been declared drought-affected, while another 254 were facing similar concerns. He pointed out that the State's drinking water requirement was approximately 409 tmcft, against the available supply of around 200 tmcft.

The senior counsel contended that the failure to repair the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram project had aggravated the water shortage.

The bench directed the government to place on record the steps taken to mitigate the crisis and posted the case for further consideration.

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