HYDERABAD: With the state government formally issuing orders delegating additional powers to the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) under the GHMC Act 1955 to enable it to protect public assets and for disaster management within GHMC limits, a section of citizens are optimistic that the agency will turn its attention to the encroachment of footpaths by commercial establishments and vendors.
The orders issued by MAUD Principal Secretary M Dana Kishore on Wednesday say that “under Section 374B of the GHMC, 1955, the HYDRAA commissioner is hereby empowered to protect public assets like roads, drains, public streets, water bodies, open spaces, public parks, etc ...”.
Interestingly, the state government, while issuing the ordinance on October 5, added Section 374B to the GHMC Act, 1955. The ordinance conferred powers to HYDRAA to protect water bodies, government lands, public spaces and parks from encroachments.
In contrast, the orders issued by the MAUD department on Wednesday say that HYDRAA is “empowered to protect public assets like roads, drains, streets ...”.
GHMC is one of the biggest urban local bodies in the country with an extent of about 650 sq km. A release from the MAUD department says: “In the context of growing urbanisation, there is increased vulnerability of these public assets from encroachments.
Protection of these public assets has assumed greater significance as most of these assets act as lung spaces for the city environs, useful for future recreational and essential community needs as well as indispensable to mitigate climate change effects....”