Supreme Court dismisses PIL against Durgam Cheruvu land auction

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the proposed auction of two land parcels measuring around 10 acres near Durgam Cheruvu in Hyderabad's Raidurg area. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana rejected the plea filed by environmentalist Juvvadi Pranay Simha Rao.

Rao had sought cancellation of the auction and a direction to the Telangana government to declare the land a protected rock-preserved area and develop it into a biodiversity park. The petition argued that the auction violated heritage precinct orders protecting ancient geological formations, including 2.5-billion-year-old rock formations critical to the Durgam Cheruvu catchment area.

The petitioner's counsel contended that commercialisation would cause environmental degradation, soil erosion and harm to groundwater systems. Two separate petitions challenging the auction are already pending before the Telangana High Court, which has sought responses from the state government. The government has maintained that the rock formations are not within the proposed auction sites.