Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Tuesday disposed of a suo motu PIL based on a news article titled ‘24X7 Blasting Clears Hillock, Irks Locals in Jubilee Hills Community’, published by TOI in August 2024. The PIL dealt with alleged illegal blastings carried out by a construction agency at the hillocks.The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, while disposing of the matter, observed that the blasting works at the site in question in the PIL were carried out strictly in accordance with statutory permissions and were completed.In response to the bench’s earlier query about whether the Hyderabad police commissioner was the competent authority to grant permissions to carry out blastings, additional advocate general Mohd Imran Khan told the court that the city police commissioner is the competent authority under the Hyderabad City Police Act (Section 21F) to issue permissions for blasting within city limits. This is done while also taking note of public safety, law and order, and neighbourhood impact due to such blastings.“The commissioner grants approval only after ensuring that statutory licences issued by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and the chief controller of explosives (CCoE) are in place. Additionally, inputs from the concerned DCP, ACP, and SHO are also taken. A total of reports/approvals from nine different authorities are thoroughly verified before granting permissions for blastings,” Khan informed the court.Khan also informed the court that the blasting at the site in question was stalled by June 30 this year, and no further permissions have been granted since in the Hyderabad city limits. He further detailed the interplay of the Explosives Substances Act and the provisions of the City Police Act for carrying out this exercise.Recording the submissions, the bench ruled that the blasting at the site in question was carried out after statutory compliance by the builder who took up construction works at the site and on permission granted by the Hyderabad city police commissioner in accordance with the law, and disposed of the matter.
