Writ petitions against flyover at KBR Park admitted

The two-judge PIL bench of the High Court at Hyderabad comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Shanker Narayan on Tuesday admitted the two writ petitions questioning the action of the government in seeking to build a state of the art flyover near the KBR Park.

The bench is dealing with a letter addressed to it by a senior journalist Kinghsuk Nag and another by environmentalist Purshotham Reddy.

Both writ petitions complained that the government was in the process felling aged trees which would have a disastrous effect on the environment.

It was also contended that the procedure was not followed and statutory clearances were not taken. The National Green Tribunal had earlier passed interim orders by issuing injunction to retrain the government from taking further steps.

The government is yet to file its response to the writ petitions. The bench on Tuesday formally admitted the writ pleas and adjourned the matters by three weeks.

Senior Counsel L Ravichander appearing as amicus for the court said that while the government could be given more time to file its response, the petitioner should be free to approach the court in case of any adverse order by the Green Tribunal.