Taking cognizance of the death of hundreds of fish in the iconic Durgam Cheruvu lake in Hyderabad, the Telangana High Court on Saturday, December 16, took suo moto action and sought for a report on the deteriorating condition of the lake. The bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti appointed senior counsel Vedula Srinivas as the amicus curiae (an individual that is not a party to the particular litigation but permitted by the court to advise it in respect to some matter of law that directly affects the case in question) to recommend names for the expert committee who will study the condition of the lake, including report on encroachments.
The case was taken based on an article published in the Time of India, which had reported on the poor condition of the lake. During the proceedings, the irrigation and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials informed that the fish had died due to water contamination caused by a sewage pipe leak.
Dissatisfied by the response of the officials, according to LiveLaw, the bench said, “We are surprised at the way you are trying to defend. It's a public cause. The approach has to be different. Do your officers have the guts to take action? Tell us. Please sit down. Don't object to everything. We have not even said anything yet. You are not capable of defending the interest of the people of Hyderabad. You are so eager to defend the officer, you should have welcomed this and come up with suggestions. In every case, you file a status report and say everything is okay. Something out of the box needs to be done.”
The bench further told senior counsel Vedula Srinivas that the team of experts suggested by him should include at least one prominent environmentalist, one representative from a central NGO, and other individuals, who cannot be easily “influenced.”
The case has been posted for December 22 to hear the suggestions from the senior counsel.