19 filings in five years, yet GHMC’s four waste-processing sites remain stuck in legal battles
In a report filed on Oct 28, GHMC commissioner RV Karnan listed 19 filings made since Oct 2021 and detailed the obstacles facing projects spread across more than 782 acres in Rangareddy, Sangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. Hyderabad: Five years after litigation over Hyderabad’s garbage disposal reached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), four sites identified by the GHMC for decentralised waste processing remain entangled in court cases, land-use approvals and objections from villages on the city’s outskirts.
At Pyaranagar in Sangareddy, the GHMC took advance possession of 117 acres and acquired 0.6 hectares from the Forest Department for an approach road laid in Feb 2025. The Sangareddy collector was directed to coordinate the filing of applications to vacate the stay orders within 15 days. Work has been halted because of status quo orders issued by the high court and the NGT, according to the report.
Litigation followed over claims that the land was private property, that public hearings and environmental clearance had not been obtained, and that waste disposal outside GHMC limits was impermissible.
At Banda Ravirayala in Abdullapurmet mandal, the GHMC sought the transfer of 494 acres and 21 guntas in Survey No 268 from the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) on April 25, 2026. Karnan’s report states that 22 cases filed by mining agencies concerning the land are pending before the Telangana high court. The GHMC has nevertheless requested the tribunal to dispose of the case. The transfer is still pending.
The report, submitted before the NGT’s Southern Zone Bench in Chennai, states that land transfer is pending at one site, work has been halted under court orders at another, pollution control consent remains pending at a third, and land-use conversion is awaited at the fourth.