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musi: Telangana government claims of cleaning Musi river an eyewash, says high court | Hyderabad News
HYDERABAD: The dirty Musi staring at the high court provided enough evidence to prove that all claims of cleaning by the state, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and pollution control board were merely an eyewash, a division bench of the Telangana HC said on Wednesday while giving officials two months to step up efforts and file independent progress reports.
The bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili was hearing a 2016 PIL by M Padmanabha Reddy of Forum For Good Governance who had sought rejuvenation of Musi.
The bench decried the pathetic state of the river and said it had now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes with drainage being allowed to flow into it at several places.
Pooh-poohing the claims made by the state counsel that they have started cleaning the river, the bench said: “Go and see the river behind the high court.”
Saying that it would appoint someone familiar with cleansing rivers as amicus curiae, the bench enquired if the National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA) has any branch in Hyderabad. State’s special counsel A Sanjiv Kumar said that some members of NIRA were there in a few committees formed by Telangana government.
Sanjiv also informed the court that the state has formed the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, which too has filed its counter in the current case.
The bench later directed the high court legal services authority to also involve itself in the effort and take things forward.
“We want a detailed report that explains the current state of the river and the efforts of the state to rejuvenate it. You can take assistance from organisations that have prior experience in cleaning rivers,” the bench said before adjourning the case for two months.
The bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili was hearing a 2016 PIL by M Padmanabha Reddy of Forum For Good Governance who had sought rejuvenation of Musi.
The bench decried the pathetic state of the river and said it had now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes with drainage being allowed to flow into it at several places.
Pooh-poohing the claims made by the state counsel that they have started cleaning the river, the bench said: “Go and see the river behind the high court.”
Saying that it would appoint someone familiar with cleansing rivers as amicus curiae, the bench enquired if the National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA) has any branch in Hyderabad. State’s special counsel A Sanjiv Kumar said that some members of NIRA were there in a few committees formed by Telangana government.
Sanjiv also informed the court that the state has formed the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, which too has filed its counter in the current case.
The bench later directed the high court legal services authority to also involve itself in the effort and take things forward.
“We want a detailed report that explains the current state of the river and the efforts of the state to rejuvenate it. You can take assistance from organisations that have prior experience in cleaning rivers,” the bench said before adjourning the case for two months.
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