Court refuses to vacate interim orders against Green Tribunal

Hyderabad: The vacation bench of the High Court at Hyderabad on Thursday refused to vacate the interim orders suspending the order of the National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone, Chennai restraining the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation from dewatering the Hussain Sagar Lake. The bench comprising Justice KC Bhanu and Justice MSK Jaiswal was dealing with a writ petition filed by Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) represented by Lubna Saraswath.

As reported earlier, SOUL approached the National Green Tribunal complaining that the GHMC was planning to drain the lake and clean it. They complained that this action of the GHMC would drastically effect the environment. The tribunal had directed the authorities of the GHMC to stop all works on the lake. Aggrieved by the order of the tribunal, GHMC approached the court.

K Ramakrishna Reddy Advocate General Telangana informed the court that the GHMC neither undertook any work of completely dewatering the lake nor did it undertake the work of de-silting of the lake. Counsel for SOUL complained that the GHMC was working contrary to the report of the Advocate General. Refusing to vacate the interim order, the judge directed the petitioner to file a contempt case if the GHMC was going against the orders of the court.