Youngsters of the State are being robbed of their future as the government appears to be set to scrap GO 111 that is aimed at protecting the two water sources to Hyderabad. This was the conclusion drawn by various speakers at Hyderabad Democracy Forum presser on Tuesday to mark World Water Day. “One of the biggest threats to mankind is climate change. But the Telangana government wants to tinker with bio-climatic zone of the catchment area of the Musi river. It will spell disaster,” said B.V. Subba Rao who has made a presentation of how the ecology will be affected.
“We don’t have a land use map of the city. The GO 111 created a conservation zone for the two lakes. The move to scrap the GO should be dropped as we don’t know the hydrological impact of the development,” said Mr. Rao. “The HMDA is identifying land parcels and selling. Is it the job of a development authority to function as a real estate dealer,” asked Mr. Rao.
Earlier, K. Purshottam Reddy termed the move to scrap GO 111 a clandestine effort being done without knowledge or consultation. “It is a battle of now or never. Like Dadabhoy Naoroji’s Drain Theory, the change of land use will rob the future generation of their wealth. Children who are studying about environment in Classes VI and VII will not stay silent. Our cities are not climate-ready,” he said.
“The plan to scrap the GO is being done at the behest of real estate dealers. But it will harm the local communities. A committee of IAS officers constituted by the Telangana government is not an experts committee. We need experts to chart a plan to preserve this piece of nature,” said D. Narasimha Reddy who questioned the claim about the purity of Godavari water.
