Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s intention to scrap GO 111 pertaining to the protection of two reservoirs near Hyderabad has sparked a big row. Speaking in the Assembly on March 15, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the government may soon scrap the GO after receiving the report of an experts’ committee.
The government had instructed The Water Department, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, Panchayat Raj, and forest officials not to entertain any query pertaining to Himayat Sagar and Usman Sagar and not to provide any information regarding G0111.
The move has angered the citizens and environmentalists who have threatened to move the Supreme Court.
Before the independence, the Nizam of Hyderabad had issued a royal decree that any activity or construction which polluted or obstructed the flow of water in the catchment of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar area was banned. The GO 111 too was on the same lines.
It prohibits industries, major hotels, residential colonies or other establishments that generate up to 10 km from the full tank level (FTL) of the lakes.
Over the years, as Hyderabad has expanded and the drinking water source of the city diversified, repeated calls have now been made to scrap the GO 111.
Several encroachments have also come up within the Full Tank Level – the maximum amount of water that the reservoir can hold when full to the brim – including a road that was constructed by the state government itself near Khanapur village. There are many pending cases in the High Court, Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the issue.
The Osmansagar was built in 1920 while the Himayatsagar was built in 1927. For decades till the late 90s and early 2000s, the reservoirs were the main source of drinking water to Hyderabad.
