Telangana asked to clarify if Kapra Lake is notified as per Walta Act

The High Court at Hyderabad on Tuesday directed the Telangana State government and its authorities to confirm whether the Kapra lake in Ranga Reddy district was notified as under section 23 of the Walta Act.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice M Ganga Rao sought this information while hearing a Public Interest Litigation petition filed by Lakeview Residents Association seeking a direction to the authorities to take steps for protecting the Kapra Lake from being contaminated due to rampant discharge of sewage and garbage into the lake, causing significant health and environmental hazards to the public residing beside the Kapra Lake.

The counsel for the petitioner N Vijay argued that Section 23 of the Act makes it mandatory for the authorities to notify important parks as heritage parks, etc. and to take steps to prevent them from being destroyed. The Chief Secretary has to monitor all this, he said. The Pollution Control Board filed a report, stating that the main cause of the contamination is sewage and garbage discharge into the lake.

The bench sought to know from the Telangana State government whether it notified the Kapra lake under the Act and if notified, what action has been taken to protect the lake. If the lake has not been notified till now, then explain the reasons for not doing so. The case was adjourned by two weeks.