In a revised missive to the Chief Justice of High Court Hima Kohli, activist and General Secretary and spokesperson of the Socialist Party (India) Lubna Sarwat alleged that the HMDA layout at Kokapet, where online auction of plots is scheduled for Thursday, falls right inside the catchment area of the Osmansagar reservoir.
HMDA’s plotting in Kokapet layout would compromise inflow channels into a water body Suruni Kunta, which drains into the Osmansagar, which goes against GO 111 prohibiting any construction in the catchment area of the reservoir, the letter said.
Juxtaposing the HMDA plotted area with the HMDA Master Plan for 2031, Ms. Sarwat said the area which was to be demarcated as conservation zone and bio-conservation zone according to GO 111, has now been declared as Multi Purpose Zone and Special Development Zone.
Drawing another violation to the CJ notice, the letter said the Plot No. 7 under the auction is right on the Balkapur nala which once provided drinking water to the Hussainsagar.
The plot with one acre extent falls inside the conservation zone as per the Index of the Master Plan, besides encroaching upon the Balkapur nala and its buffer zone, the letter mentioned.
The area demarcated for the 400 kV electrical substation within the layout is right on the Balkapur nala and its buffer zone, and also extends into the bio-conservation zone, the activist contended, producing the physical map of the Survey of India issued in 1999 which showed the Balkapur nala and its bund.
Golden Mile layout of 1.65 acres, part of the online auction, runs along the Balkapur Nala as per the HMDA auction maps, but on the ground, the nala is filled up. The map does not mention the nala width nor its buffer zone or bund besides proposing 30 meter road on both sides of what is demarcated as the nala, the petition mentioned.
Ambiguity
This pushes the map into ambiguity, said Ms. Sarwat, comparing the map with the Master Plan for 2031 and the SOI topo sheets.
Requesting orders for declaration of the auction as illegal, Ms. Sarwat also prayed to the Chief Justice for directions to identify, notify and restore the inflow channels and FTL buffer zone of Suruni Cheruvu, to restore Balkapur nala and its buffer zone, and for declaration of the Special Development Zone as Conservation Zone or Bio Conservation Zone.
