Old secretariat demolition: NGT gives clean chit for Telangana govt

Committee observed that there was no possibility of C&D waste polluting Hussain Sagar Lake since it was situated 80 mts away from the Secretariat complex with a four-lane road between

Hyderabad: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Joint Committee looking into the demolition of the old Secretariat buildings by the Telangana government, gave a clean chit to the State government, stating that all precautions were taken in the demolition and disposal of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste.

In its report submitted to the NGT, the Committee observed that there was no possibility of C&D waste polluting Hussain Sagar Lake since it was situated 80 mts away from the Secretariat complex with a four-lane road between.

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TPCC working president A Revanth Reddy filed a petition and NGT constituted a Joint Committee to probe the allegations. The Joint Committee was directed to inspect the demolition site and also analyse whether any damage was caused to the environment, including the Hussain Sagar Lake.

About 1,14,447 metric tonnes of C&D waste was generated during the demolition of the Secretariat buildings. The same was received by Hyderabad C&D waste Private Limited, Jeedimetla and the facility was processing the waste. The committee said the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) will inspect the Hyderabad C&D Waste Private Limited every month and verify the quantity of waste produced. TSPCB was directed to submit monthly reports in this regard.

The Secretariat administrative blocks (A, B, C, D, G, H – North, H –South, J, K and L) were demolished between July 6 and 19 last year. The entire C&D waste was transported between July 20 and August 29 last year.

Revanth Reddy alleged that demolition works were done without following C&D Waste Management Rules, 2016 and without getting necessary permissions from the concerned authorities. He also alleged that the Secretariat complex was situated within 80 metres of Hussain Sagar Lake which he claimed was a wetland. Without measuring the distance from the Full Tank Level (FTL) of the lake, authorities are not expected to proceed with the work, he maintained.

The Joint Committee said it had got clarification that the Wetland rules, 2017, do not apply to Hussain Sagar Lake. Hussain Sagar Lake does not come under Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. As per GO No 168 issued by the then government in undivided Andhra Pradesh, construction of any building was prohibited only 30 mts from the FTL boundary of the lake, the committee said.

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