Telangana High Court hears PIL on Centre’s move to take over irrigation projects

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of Telangana High Court comprising of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy on Thursday heard inconclusively a PIL questioning the action of the Central Government in issuing a Gazette notification taking control over all the major and medium irrigation projects in the twin states of Telangana and Andhra […]

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of Telangana High Court comprising of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy on Thursday heard inconclusively a PIL questioning the action of the Central Government in issuing a Gazette notification taking control over all the major and medium irrigation projects in the twin states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The panel was dealing with a PIL file by D. Panduranga Reddy and two others associated with the Telangana Development Forum (TDF).

The petitioners sought withdrawal of the notification. The matter came up for orders before the panel after the Registry raised objections over the maintainability of the PIL in view of the express bar on jurisdiction of the Apex Court and High Courts in adjudicating inter-state river water disputes as per Section 11 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956. The petitioners contended that the Central Government issued the notification in July 2021 exercising powers under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and the matter was not a ‘water dispute’ as defined under Section 11 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act. It was also contended that the High Court had jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter on the illegal, arbitrary, and draconian action of the Central Government in usurping all the powers of the state governments over all the irrigation projects with reference to all functions. The panel will continue to hear the matter on September 20.

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GP elections

The same panel on Thursday granted six weeks of time to government of Telangana to issue a notification excluding eight villages which fall under Scheduled Areas from applicability of Telangana Municipality laws. The petitioner, Sonde Veeraiah challenged the inaction of the civic authorities in not conducting elections to the Gram Panchayat of Bhadrachalam thereby depriving the electoral rights of the people. The counsel for petitioner Vasudha Nagraj contended that since 2020 no steps were taken by the government to exclude the application of Telangana Municipal laws on Gram Panchayat of Bhadrachalam, Bhadradri Kothagudem District. The Government Pleader appearing on behalf of state government submitted the matter was under consideration and necessary steps would be taken. The panel will continue to hear the matter on October 27.

PMFBY disbursement

The same panel granted three months time to the government to disburse the remaining compensation amount under Pradhanmantri Fasal Bheema Yojana scheme for the year 2018-2019 to eligible farmers of Adilabad district. The panel was dealing with a petition filed by Payal Shanker, a social activist. The petitioner challenged the inaction of the government in not paying compensation to eligible farmers in spite of paying premiums by the farmers for Kharif and Rabi crop under the said scheme. The government contended that an amount of Rs 340 crore was already deposited directly to beneficiary bank accounts. However, due to some technical issues in the bank accounts, the remaining claim of Rs 21.6 crore bounced back. The government assured that the remaining claim will be disbursed soon directly to the bank accounts of farmers.