New Delhi, Dec 16 (TIWN) The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and all state governments on a petition seeking direction to check unregulated and unhindered developments, including illegal layouts, which adversely affects the environment and multiples into a complex set of problems in cities, resulting in frequent floods, traffic chaos, drainage and electricity supply related issues.

A bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao and comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi asked petitioner Juvvadi Sagar Rao, a resident of Telangana, to make all state governments parties to the PIL.  The plea contended that many states - Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh - have regularised illegal layouts, which pertinently violate building rules, various urban laws and also the rule of law. 

"Chennai city has witnessed the unforgettable disaster in 2015. Most recently Hyderabad, Vijayawada have witnessed massive flooding due to sudden rains/cloud burst. Thousands of people have suffered due to flooding in Hyderabad, Vijayawada," said the plea.  The plea, filed through advocate Hitendra Nath Rath, contended that these three state governments have ignored all the precautionary provisions and allowed the illegal activity to become legal by collecting regularisation fees from the present residents/occupiers, leaving scot-free the land developers, sellers, officials who allowed the illegal layouts and registration of plots, and construction of houses in the illegal layouts.  The National Disaster Management Authority issued guidelines for urbanisation and constructions to avoid urban flooding and disasters. "But the greedy real estate mafia with the support of corrupt government officials, ignored the guidelines and warnings. Every rainy season urban flooding has been witnessed in the cities, and towns in the states," the petitioner said.