Collector directs officials to protect water bodies in RR

Rangareddy: Amid the reports of brazen levels of encroachment over the water bodies in Rangareddy district, the District Collector urged the officials of the Revenue and Irrigation department to take up a survey of the lakes in the district as a priority and file the report. The District Collector K Shashanka, on Wednesday, went into a huddle with the officials, mainly from the Revenue and Irrigation departments, and discussed the issue of encroachment over water bodies in the district.

The review meeting that was held in the conference hall of the integrated district office complex building at Kongarakalan on Wednesday saw the presence of the Additional District Collector, RDOs, Nodal Officers from HMDA, besides senior revenue and irrigation officials.

While elaborating on the details of the water bodies existing in the district, the Collector said, “There are a total of 1,075 ponds in Rangareddy district, of which 945 have been surveyed, while the remaining 38 lakes are yet to be surveyed.” The Collector directed the concerned officials to complete the survey of the remaining ponds within a week.

“The revenue officials should have village plans and pahanis with them and take up field inspections of the water bodies to identify the Full Tank Levels (FTLs) and buffer zones of the water bodies and set up fencing and caution boards around the ponds,” said the Collector. He further stated that the inspections must be carried out jointly by the Tahsildars, Irrigation officials, and local assistant engineers within their areas of operation. The reports regarding the field surveys should be sent to division-level officials weekly.

The Collector instructed the irrigation officials to identify the FTLs and buffer zones of the water bodies and set up fencing. He also directed the officials to take strict measures against the encroachments on the water bodies by the realtors.

“Officials should act immediately to the call regarding encroachments over the water bodies anywhere in the district,” said the Collector.

District Additional Collector Pratima Singh, RDOs Suraj Kumar, Anantha Reddy, Venkat Reddy, Sairam, and Venumadhav, besides Irrigation DE Narender Reddy, HMDA Nodal Officer Ramadevi, and concerned officials were present on this occasion.