PIL seeks court direction for increasing green space

Hyderabad: A Public Interest Litigation petition seeking a direction to the State government to increase green space and public parks in Hyderabad and all over Telangana State was admitted by the High Court at Hyderabad. The court sought detailed counter affidavits on the petition from the State and Central authorities within two weeks.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice G Shyam Prasad gave this direction while hearing a petition filed by senior advocate K Pratap Reddy on Tuesday. The petitioner prayed the court to declare the failure of the authorities in providing adequate green spaces, park and recreational areas for the citizens as a Constitutional failure on the part of the State. He stated that the dearth of public parks, green spaces and urban forests in majority of residential localities in cities of Telangana State is a matter of grave

concern. Citing statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pratap Reddy said every city should have at least nine square metres of green space for every person. However, the per capita green space in Hyderabad works out to a dismal 0.50 sq metre against the national average of three square metres. Except the ones that were conceptualised and developed in 1950s, no new park was developed in Hyderabad, the petitioner pointed out. “The burgeoning expansion of the city and the haphazard mushrooming of commercial and residential buildings have only been making matters worse. Skyscrapers, high-rise commercial buildings and residential communities are replacing playgrounds, community parks and green spaces,” he said.

The petitioner sought directions to the authorities to ensure adequate maintenance of the existing public parks and green spaces in various urban areas. He also sought a direction to the State government to identify and demarcate land and undertake development of public parks in various urban centres of the State of Telangana and to fix a time frame for the same. The bench directed the State and Central authorities to file detailed counter affidavits and posted the case to two weeks later.