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High Court pulls up GHMC over illegal plastic units
Much to the surprise of many in Shastripuram Colony, the long-pending case of illegal plastic and scrap industries in Residential area has come up for hearing before the High Court, almost after a gap of eight years.
Rajendranagar: Much to the surprise of many in Shastripuram Colony, the long-pending case of illegal plastic and scrap industries in Residential area has come up for hearing before the High Court, almost after a gap of eight years.
Disappointed with the action taken report filed by the Deputy Commissioner, GHMC-Rajendranagar, the court on the request of the counsel for the petitioners, Pushpender Kaur, appointed the Member Secretary of Telangana State Legal Service Authority (TSLSA) as amicus curiae in the case to get a deeper insight into the matter. While hearing the case last week, the court ordered the Member Secretary to inspect the area and take stock of the industries operating in residential colony. Following the order, the Member Secretary TSLSA G V Subramanyam visited the colony on Monday and found the report submitted by Rajendranagar GHMC office in the court, to be completely contradictory on the number of industries operating in the colony.
At one point of time, GV Subramanyam asked the Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar, "Can you live in this colony along with your family? Would your children grow up in such atmosphere?" The official was speechless. "Shastripuram is one of the oldest HUDA-approved layouts consisting of 284 acres of land and a railway line passes through the colony separating the southern part from the rest of the area. With the passage of time, the entire southern part of the Shastripuram colony turned completely into an industrial zone on the lines of Tata Nagar which doesn't hold any official record," said Syed Shoukat Ali, a resident of Shastripuram Colony.
"While the GHMC mentioned in his report that there are only three plastic units operating in the colony, the secretary finds the number much higher than what actually the officials mentioned in their report. The Judge inspected the industries in the residential colony," said Vinay P, a former resident of Shastripuram Colony.
"Knowing that the amicus curiae of the court along with advocate Pushpender Kaur, who filed the PIL on behalf of the colony people, are on the visit, many of the industrial units locked their doors confining the labourers inside. This made the judge more suspicious who was already appalled by the way the industrial units are operating in the colony," he added.
"While the GHMC officials turned a blind eye towards the illegal industrial units, the electricity department provides them the power supply without asking them to furnish any documents or NOC from the neighbours," said Syed Mushtaq, another neighbour of the colony.
"Though the GHMC officials pulled down some units in the year 2013 to give an impression of their attentiveness, the establishments returned soon after and resumed full-fledged operations. This colony is an extreme example of official apathy, maladministration and, more importantly, the political opportunism which is still hurting us all," rued Mushtaq.
