This case study can be used to illustrate the principle that reporting in the news media can lead to official corrective action in a democratic setting.
A report in The Hindu revealing encroachments into the Lotus Pond, located in Jubilee Hills, has led to an inspection of the site by officials and directions to the police to register a case.
The reporting by Swathi Vadlamudi, written in her trademark descriptive prose, depicted the breaking of a boundary wall and ongoing groundwork by excavation machines. The report questioned how the security personnel guarding the lake could not hear or see the heavy machinery at work in an otherwise quiet setting.
More importantly, Ms Vadlamudi reported that the lake’s original stone masonry boundary wall was erased and a new concrete wall was built some distance inside the buffer zone, thereby creating a piece of real estate that was ironically named after the lake.
“A close inspection of the Google Earth historical images of the buffer area reveal blatant encroachment even after the final notification [by HMDA], with no action from the authorities whatsoever,” she wrote in the report published on 27th June.
On the same day the report was published, the newly-appointed Commissioner (Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management wing), of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, A. V. Ranganath, inspected the site and issued instructions for action.
The encroacher was identified as Gokul Narne, and orders have been issued for registering a case against him, Mr. Ranganath told the paper. “Forest department has been notified about felling of the trees in violation of The Telangana Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002,” he said.
