IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.7219 of 2005 Between: 1 A.Jagadishwari, W/o.A.Shyam Sundar Rao, R/o.MIG Quarter No.195, Pedagantyada, Visakhapatnam. 2 D. Kurma Rao, S/o. Satyanarayana, R/o.MIG Quarter No.196, Pedagantyada, Visakhapatnam. 3 A.Laxmi Rajyam, W/o.A.Raghava Chary, R/o.MIG Quarter No.323, Pedagantyada, Visakhapatnam. 4 P.Rohini, W/o.P.Shantha Rao, R/o.MIG Quarter No.407, Pedagantyada, Visakhapatnam. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Vice Chairman & Commissioner, AP Housing Board, Gruhakalpa, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The Executive Engineer (HG) AP Housing Board, Visakhapatnam. 3 The Secretary, Housing & Municipal Administrative, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 4 The Commissioner (Special Officer,) Gajuwaka Municipality, Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam Dist. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, direction or directions and direct the respondents to act according to law and provide basic amenities such as drainage, sewerage, outlet for septic tanks, street lighting and sanitary conditions in the Pedagantyada Housing colony and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble court may deem ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.CH. SATISH KUMAR Counsel for the Respondents: MR.D.RANGANATHA KUMAR G.P. FOR MUNICIPAL ADMN.& URBAN DEVELOPMENT The Court made the following: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S. RAO WRIT PETITION No.7219 of 2005 ORDER: Petitioners, who are four in number, are owners of Andhra Pradesh Housing Board (APHB) MIG Quarters at Pedagantyada Housing Board Colony, Visakhapatnam. After allotment, they entered into an agreement and allegedly paid all the amounts. They complain that though under the scheme developed by APHB, there is an obligation on their part to provide basic amenities like drainage, lighting, pathways, roads and sewerage, they did not provide. Therefore, the petitioners and other allottees have been requesting the respondents to provide all amenities, in vain. In this writ petition, therefore, they seek a writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to provide basic amenities in Pedagantyada Housing Board Colony. The Executive Engineer (Housing), APHB, the 2nd respondent herein, ﬁled a detailed counter-aﬃdavit. While denying the allegation that basic amenities are not provided, it is also stated that all the infrastructural facilities and amenities provided have been handed over to Gajuwaka Municipality as per Section 36 of the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board Act, 1956. For ready reference, a part of paragraph 4 of the counter-affidavit is extracted as under. ...It is pertinent to mention here that as per S.36, the Government shall not declare the colony as a public colony and the local authority will not take over the colony unless and until they are satisﬁed that the Board has duly leveled, paved, medalled, ﬂagged, channeled, sewered and drained the colony in the manner provided in the programme sanctioned by the Government under S.26, and that lamps, lam-posts and other apparatus as the local authority considers necessary for the lighting of such colony and as ought to be provided by the Board have been so provided, and that water and other sanitary conveniences have been duly provided in such colony. Therefore, the fact that the said colony was declared as a public colony and taken over by the local authority i.e. Gajuwaka Municipality, itself proves that the A.P. Housing Board has provided all the basic facilities in the colony. It is submitted that though this colony was completed in all respects in 1986 itself, there was a delay in the local authority taking over the same as it was only a ‘Gram Panchayat’ and therefore could not take over the colony until it was upgraded to ‘Municipality’. It is submitted that the Gajuwaka Municipality has taken over the Colony on 10-4-1988 and has since then been maintaining the colony and also collecting house tax etc., from the residents of the colony. It is submitted that in the case of this colony, due to the delay on the part of the local authority in taking over the colony and maintaining the same, the A.P. Housing Board maintained the water supply to the colony from 1986 to 1998 by collecting nominal water charges for the beneﬁt of the residents of the colony, though it was not its responsibility as the allottees association had not come forward to maintain the colony. The petitioners have not ﬁled any reply-aﬃdavit. Therefore, the counter averments are deemed to have been admitted. Be that as it is, if the petitioners have still any complaint with regard to the facilities in the Colony, it is always open to them to ﬁle appropriate application for redressal of their grievance before the Commissioner, Gajuwaka Municipality. The same may be looked into and appropriate action be taken by the Commissioner, Gajuwaka Municipality. With the above observations, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. ____________ (V.V.S.RAO,J) 25th September, 2008 IBL