HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Disaster Relief and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) is giving sleepless nights to land grabbers, realtors, builders and politicians.
For the last 10 days, the HYDRAA has been on a demolition drive. Armed with bulldozers and other heavy duty vehicles, the agency has been pulling down the buildings that have come up in the Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zones of the water bodies within Outer Ring Road (ORR) limits.
As the demolitions are being carried out without any prior notice, the encroachers, builders and politicians are on the edge, not knowing whose buildings are next on the demolition list of the HYDRAA.
In less than 10 days of HYDRAA swinging into action, more than 50 illegal buildings built in the FTL and buffer zone of the water bodies such as Osman Sagar (40), Chilkur in Moinabad (7), Chanda Nagar in Serilingampally (3) Errakunta Cheruvu in Bachupally (3), Devendra Nagar in Gajularamaram (3) and Bum-Rukn-ud-Dowla lake near Shivrampally, have been razed.
The agency authorities are making sure that records of unauthorised buildings are thoroughly verified before carrying out the demolitions. After identifying them, men, machinery and police personnel are deployed during the early morning hours itself to pull down the structures. The HYDRAA is also keeping track of the unauthorised constructions in parks, layouts, open spaces, playgrounds, nalas and land parcels.
The authorities said that, on an average, they are receiving 50-100 complaints per day from the people and they are being verified thoroughly before initiating action. Their main priority is removal of encroachments in the surroundings of tanks within ORR limits. As per the data obtained from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Balanagar, between 1979-2024 (45 years), the extent of the water bodies in and around Hyderabad has diminished by 61 percent. There are 185 lakes within GHMC limits and 400 within ORR limits.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy established the HYDRAA for Telangana Core Urban Region (TCUR) for the purpose of disaster management, asset protection etc. The wing will protect assets of ULBs and government such as parks, layouts, open spaces, playgrounds, lakes, nalas, land parcels, roads, carriageways, footpaths, etc from encroachments. Removal of lake encroachments is being done in coordination with the GHMC and local bodies concerned.
Many people are appreciating the state government on social media platforms for protection and recovery/restoration of lakes, nalas, kuntas. If the very purpose of HYDRAA is fulfilled without any interference from the politicians then the people of Telangana would be grateful to the chief minister, they stated.
Phase-wise action plan
It will stop further encroachments of water bodies, government lands, parks in phase-I, encroachments that have come up in FTL and buffer zones will be demolished in Phase-II and, in phase-III, it will take up the revival of the lakes by restoring and beautify them through desilting. The HYDRAA will repair lake chain links so that there is flow of water from one lake to another without any interruption.
The HYDRAA which has been allocated a budget of `200 crore, will soon be setting up a police station to accelerate its activities.
BRS SLAMS HYDRAA’S ‘SELECTIVE TARGETING’
Hyderabad: Raising concerns over HYDRAA’s ‘selective’ targeting, the opposition BRS demanded that the agency take action against encroachments allegedly made by Congress legislators. BRS spokesperson Krishank Manne listed several properties owned by Congress leaders, questioning HYDRAA’s failure to address these cases. Krishank pointed out specific instances, asking, “What about the Congress MLA Vivek Venkatswamy’s farmhouse constructed in the buffer zone right beside the water body? What about the private resort of Congress MLC Patnam Mahendar Reddy near Himayatsagar? And why is there no action against minister Ponguleti’s residence in the buffer zone? I hope HYDRAA hasn’t forgotten about the farmhouse owned by Congress leader KVP in the buffer zone. What about the farmhouse belonging to the Congress leader and Legislative Council Chairman?” The BRS questioned the alleged disparity in how HYDRAA is addressing encroachments and called for a more uniform approach.