HYDRAA or the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency set up by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to protect government lands and lakes from encroachments, has run into rough weather. The Telangana High Court, hearing a petition by a builder, first ordered deployment of Army personnel to protect a disputed land parcel from HYDRAA, though it later kept that order in abeyance. It then directed the state government to replace HYDRAA chief A V Ranganath, citing contempt of court and 63 pending cases against the agency. The developments raise important questions.
HYDRAA says it acted on complaints from the Society to Save Rocks and that the builder had misled the court because the land where it acted was three kilometres away from the petitioner’s site. Whatever the competing claims, the court concluded that its orders had been violated. Under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, contempt can attract imprisonment, a fine or both, and the court may or may not accept an apology. If the court found repeated violations of its orders, it may have had grounds to hold the HYDRAA chief guilty of contempt and even direct his removal in what it viewed as exceptional circumstances. But the earlier order seeking Army deployment appeared excessive and invited criticism as judicial overreach.
The episode risks damaging public confidence in both the judiciary and HYDRAA, with competing narratives already circulating on social media. Since its creation, HYDRAA has attracted controversy. Yet it has also claimed success in protecting lakes and recovering government land said to be worth about ₹1.5 lakh crore. Its critics, including the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi, argue that it has acted selectively, targeting smaller encroachments while sparing influential violators. Some of those concerns cannot be dismissed lightly.
Even so, the need for an agency like HYDRAA is indisputable. Encroachments on government land and water bodies in and around Hyderabad have reached a scale that demands a dedicated enforcement mechanism. The answer is not to weaken such an institution but to make it more transparent and accountable. The government should complete scientific mapping of government land, lakes, parks and other protected areas, place the information in the public domain, and fix responsibility on officials who approved illegal construction. The first step, though, is to make sure that the executive and judiciary do not lock horns.
