Telangana Cabinet scraps GO 111; 84 villages get free from restrictions in land use

Minister T Harish Rao said the rules and regulations in force for the land in the GHMC limits would be applicable for that in 84 villages falling in the 10-km catchment area of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar

Hyderabad: The State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao here on Thursday, has announced the scrapping of GO No. 111, which was issued in 1996 to prevent undue industrialisation and heavy construction activities in 84 villages and pollution of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar.

Briefing the media on the proceedings of the meeting, Minister T Harish Rao said the rules and regulations in force for the land in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits would be applicable for that in the 84 villages in the revenue mandals of Shamshabad, Rajendranagar, Moinabad, Chevella and Shabad — all falling in the 10-km catchment area of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar.

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Neither the city of Hyderabad nor the villages in the HMDA limits were dependent on the two sources of water any longer. The water supply to the city and suburbs was largely coming from the Godavari, Krishna and Manjeera rivers.

Also, the State government decided to do away with GO No. 111 as the people in the 84 villages were long demanding for it. They were opposing the GO as it had left them deprived of any development in the area. They would now be free from all restrictions in respect of their land use. The city was now able to draw sufficient drinking water from major sources such as the Godavari, Krishna and Manjeera.

As part of the steps being taken to address the problem of water pollution impacting Gandipet and Himayat Sagar, ring main and STPs would be installed soon. The city’s water sources, including the Musi, Gandipet and Himayat Sagar, would be linked with supplies from the Kaleshwaram project which lifts water from the Godavari to the Kondapochamma Sagar. The roads connecting Shankarpalli and Chevella would be widened from 150 ft to 200 ft.

Hussain Sagar would also be linked with the supplies from the Godavari. The move is intended to get rid of polluted water in all the sources and fill them with Godavari waters. The Chief Minister directed officials of the departments concerned to get ready with the necessary plans and designs for this.