The High Court · 2025

Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI T.BALA MOHAN REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.1 to 4: SRI L.RAVINDER, a Gp FOR REVENUE Counsel for the Respondent No.5: SRI DHARAVATH RAV , AGP FOR IRRIGATION i CAD The Court made the following: ORDER , TI I I I I i l l I I I I I I i i i I : I i I I I I I i I i I I i I I I I i i I I I : l THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE E.V.VENUGOPAL WRIT PETITION No.2852O of 2o25 ORDER: This Writ Petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia, is filed seeking the following relief: "...pleased lo is.sue Wit or order or direction more pcttlicularlg one irt the noture of Wnt of Mandamus declaing the action of the resportdent No.2 to 5 in not taking ctgainst the encroachments in 5y.No.615, 616 and 633 o.f Palle chentuu, Bttddo Reddy Pally Village, Itkgal Mandol, Jogularnba Gadwal Distict, whtch comes under FTL and Buffer Zone despite representation dated 27.08.2024 as illegal, arbitrary, highhanded, uiolatiue of princtples of natural justice and being uiolatiue of article 14 and 3O0 A of Constitution of htdia and conseQuently to direct the Responderuts take action against the encroachments /n Sy-1[o.615, 616 and 633 of Palle chentuu, BtLdda Reddy Pally Village, Itkikal Mandal, Jogulamba Gadual Distict made irt accordance with latu, and take remedial measures for protection and restoration of tlrc satd uater body and pass..."

2. Heard Sri T.Baia Mohan Reddy, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, Sri L.Ravinder, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue, for respondent Nos.1 to 4 and Sri Dharavath Ravi, learned Assistant Government Pieader for Irrigation and CAD, for respondent No.5 and perused the record. Pag.) 2 of Il

3. Learnecl counsel appear-ing lbr the petit oner would subrrrt that the petitioner herettt is the ex- iarpanch of Buddareddypall-r' Village and hc is eking his Ivelihood b1' doing cultivation. The onlv \\,ater source of t-l -'ir village is Palle Cheruvu. Thc said u.ater body 1S ,pread over approximatel-r, 65 acres in Sr..Nos.615, 616 and r33. Due to Jargc scale urrauthorized encroachments and i Lliscriminate rclcase and diversion of s'ate r, the taken 1 :ts suffcred considerable r-eductior-r in capercitv, severel-r' i I pa<:ting the irrigation sr,rpply to dependcnt agricultural lrnds. The earlier clected body of Grampanchayat, lespite the availability of alternate go\.ernmcnt land, las i11egally undertaken the construction of a Grampanci-r: ,,at building within the FTL area of Cheruvu. This con s I -uction was undertaken using government funds. As :r I', sult of this construction, the existing cart',..,av nithin the trr rk has been raised to prevent water from entering the br ilding area, thereby shrinking the water body by approxirn: tell' B to 10 acres. 4 In the communication dated 23.12.201t1 uide Letter No. Afr51 12019 issued b1, the Tahsildar, ttklz 1 Mandal to -/ ,/ I t i i i 1 ! I the Assistant Director, Survey and Land Records, Jogulamba Gadwal Drstrict, acknowledges that the survey \\'as wrongly conducted in Sy.No.616 instead of Sy.No.615, and also admits that a portion of lhe Gram Panchayat Building lies within the FTL zone. A request was made to depute DIO for re-survey; hou,ever, no corrective action has been taken. Aggrieved by the said construction of gram panchayat building in FTL, the petitroner filed W.P.No.2926 of 2O2O. The said rvrit petition u'as closed by this Hon'ble Court by order clated 29.07.2021 observing: "on perusing the affidauit filed bg the respond.ent No.7, we are of the op,inion that a satisfactory explanation has been offered bg the Department relttting to the constntction of the Gram Panchag at building in the uitlage in question and the same does not infringe either the FTL area or the buffer zone. on the ground that no encroachment u./C.s proued in respect of the speci-.,fic building".

5. In-fact the reports and survey conducted would clearly show that one pi11ar of the said building is in FTL and Buffer zor7e. Since the orders are already passed by this Hon'ble court in respect of the panchayat building, the petitioner is not re-agitating the same issue in the present u'rit petition, \ I I j,aee 4 of8 1n as much as the order attained finality. Thr-- I rnd, u,hich is forming part of cheruvu, FTL ancl buffer zon: i,as occupied some land grelbbcrs anci started forming plot s rncl the said cheruvu also rnaking illegal construction th r I several repr-esentatior-r s, including datr:c1 :on. Desprtc

27.O8.2024 srrbmitred bv rlrc petitioner to i-csporrcleirt Nr,s.- to 5. alld in tl-re lace of r.arious inter-,Cepartmental col: m unications acknor.i'ledgil-rg the issur, no effective action l-rri becn taken to idenlily and demarcate the FTL and Buff,:- tank and remove illegal encroachments, restc, Zor-re of the e the u,ater body's original capacity for agricuitural and er viro nmental purpo se s.

6. ' It is respectfull_y submitted that certain rL iscr.upulous inclividuals, cornmonly refe::recl to as land gr: tbers, have taken undue advantage of the inaction orr rh,: part of the conccrned authorities and have unlawfuiiy encrrc ached upon portions of tl-re lald constituting the palle Chr: uvu (tank). Such encroached lands are being surreptitioush, into residential plots and illegally sold to u buvers for thc purpose of constructing resider-rtrz I emarcated tsuspecting I houses. A further portion of the said iand has been illicill , converted Pagc 5 of8 I I I i j into agricultural land with the ulterior motive of establishing possession and ultimately claiming o\^'nership rights, thereby undermining the pr:blic utilitl' and ecological importance of the tank.

7. Due to the afores:rid encroachments, the tank (cheruvu), rvhich is spread over approximately 65 acres in Survey Nos. 615, 616, and 633, 15 nO longer capable of hoiding its full designed capacity of u'ater. Consequently, this adversely affects its primary functions, including irrigation for agricultural lands and the storage of water released from the downstream Nettampadu Lift irrigation Scheme. The tank's diminished storage capacltlr poses a direct threat to the livelihood of larmers and the general rn'ell- being of the residents of the surrounding villages. In this regard, it is imperative that immediate steps be taken for the restoration of the Full Tank Level (FTL) and demarcation of the Buffer Zone in accordance u'ith established norms and environmental guidelines. A comprehensive joint surveY is required to be conducted by the Revenue, Irrigation, and Survey Departments to delineate the original boundaries, FTL, and Br-rffer Zone of the Palle Cherum' Pos! l'u1tc (r of 8 identification, all unlarvful encroachments an( obsl r-uctions impairing the tanl<'s natr-rr:rl flor.r,and storag(' rpirr ir-r rrrust be remor.ed to rcstore its utilitY for public il|( agricult ural prlrl)oses

8. TI'rc pctitior-rer in vic\\' of the encroachnr(' .s rnade hacl m:rde a rct)rcslcn tation datcd 27.O8.2024 r( r alie action agailrst the cncroachers in S,r'.No.615, 516 zrn,l ir3.l of l)arlle cheruvlr. Br-rdda Rcddv Pall-v Villagc, lr I. :rl Mar-rdzrl .Jo.qul:rmba ()adri'al District, ri'lrich comes Ltr ( ('r l."l'L and Brrflcr Zone. That thc silid rcpresentation rr,as -r.ccjvcd and :rcknou'lcdgcd. Hou,cvcr, the rcspondents inst.: rrl ol taking action simpl.r replied that lhc survev !,(/zrs ('o tiuctcd and cl-t'eruvu u,as dcrnarcated. TI'rrs reply cioes rr, r ird<lrcss thc issuc ol cncroachmcrlt in Lhe tarrk land, FTL ar , btrlfcr zone of th e cheruvr-r. Due to lackadaisical attitlrd(. r I r hc offit:ials concerned tlrc encroachers are resortint to fr-rrlhcr er-rcroachmer-rt of tanl< land. The government ol 'clangerna is tal<ing various ste ps to restore the tanks, ra,tr rr rboclies and other irrigating sourccs to its normalcy and r rigirral form and taking varl0u s stcps. TIrat the action ol the olficials refusing to cither lool<ing into the represent.rll ,rr lnd take I I i I I I I Page 7 of8 appropriate action against the encroachers of tank land and remaining mute spectators is clearly unn:arrante d and is in clear violation of duties cast upon them apart from being violative of rights guaranteed to petitioner under Constitution of India. In these circumstances the petitioner is constrained to file the present r'vrit petition. g. Learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue and learned Assistalt Government Pleader for lrrigation and CAD in one voice u,ould submit that the survey pertalnlng to Sy.Nos.615, 516 and 633, where the Palle Cheruvu is being located has been conducted by the Revenue Ofticials upon an. application rvhich was received to protect the said property from the i1lega1 encroachments' In Sy'No'633, which is in the FTL zone necessary measurements have been taken and accordingly boundaries have been identified and necessary boundary stones have been installed around the said property and therefore, no encroachments have been permitted in the said area. Therefore, both the counsel would seek to pass appropriate orders. \_ |.. \ 7 Pare E ofE

10. In the light of the aforesaid facts and cirt: urrstances of the casc, this Court lt ithout going into tl-r : merits and dernerits of tl're case, deems it appropriate 1r direct the official respondeltts to fence the land of plL ir: Cheruvu. situated ir-r Sr'.Nos.615, 516 ar-rd 633 in the intc.r est of public at large bf issuing notices to all ccncerned arl(l Lr-y aflording thcm an opportunity of hear:ing. If the officia :espondcr-rts found tirat if aitr. private persons are ln occu[ rticn of the said lancls, take appropriartc action b1, follor,, rg the due procedure, strictl.r. in accordancc rvith lar,v. 1 1 With the above observations, this u,r.i. petition disposed of. There shall be no order. as to cosls shall starrd dismisscd. 7 sequel, miscellaneous petitions, if ar 1,, pcnding, //TRUE COPY// .t , Sd/-C.DEEPIKA St iTANT REG#}TR-AR To, - SECTION OFFICER \*{ ted D ta'i rt, Hyderabad. State islr :t Offices Complex, IlgL j:"lqq, Secretary, Revenue Department, or I etangana. The Collecto. .and District Magistrate, lntegra Jogulamba Gadwal District The Tahsildar, ltkyal IVandal, Jogulamba Gadwal Diskicr The Asst. Director, Survey and Land Records, Joguramba Gadwar District. I::#T[|X3.Ensineer, (r & cAD) and District trrisaticr officer, Josutamba One CC to SRI T.BALA MOHAN REDDY, Advocate [OptJ )] IyS":r3:J?f,IrtFoR REVENUE, Hish court ror the sti re or reransana ar TWO CCS tO GP FOR IRR relanganaatHyderabad to,lfiloN Two CD Copies & cAD' High ccL 1 for the State of 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 o HIGH COURT DATED: '1411112025 ,4 (+' \ i : I ) g1 ?u \ ATE /i - ..f i{ -,.'.'/ -:1" i:-. ORDER WP.No.28520 of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION, WITHOUT COSTS 1 ).b \4