HYDERABAD: IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu on Monday said that the Congress government’s objective behind introducing the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation Policy (HILTP) was to prevent the city from facing pollution levels similar to Delhi, where schools are closed frequently due to poor air quality.
Responding to the BJP leaders submitting a representation to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, seeking withdrawal of the HILTP, he said: “The BJP and BRS want Hyderabad to go the Delhi way.”
Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan, Sridhar Babu accused the BJP of “blindly” opposing government initiatives. He asserted that the saffron party’s objections to the HILTP are not in adherence to guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court on environmental conservation.
He alleged that the BJP and BRS were “acting in tandem” to obstruct reforms aimed at curbing industrial pollution and ensuring transparent land-use practices.
Clarifying that the conservation fee under the HILT policy applies only to freehold conversions of private industrial lands, not government land, the industries minister accused the previous BRS government of alienating state land indiscriminately and altering titles arbitrarily.
He wondered why the BJP had remained silent when the BRS government converted leased industrial land to freehold in 2022, citing the example of 100 acres allotted to a pharma company.
He argued that the current policy aims to revive unused industrial land and has received support from the Nacharam Industrial Association. Several conversions undertaken during the BRS tenure without a policy framework would now be scrutinised, he added.
The minister said both BJP and BRS had earlier obstructed initiatives such as the Musi river rejuvenation and relocation of polluting industries.
He urged opposition parties to furnish evidence for their allegations instead of making “baseless claims”.
Stating that development works could proceed where the model code of conduct was not in force, he reiterated that decisions of the Congress government were taken after “scientific examination and public interest considerations.”
BJP DELEGATION URGES GOVERNOR TO HALT HILTP IMPLEMENTATION
Hyderabad: A delegation of BJP leaders, led by state party president N Ramchander Rao, on Monday met Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and submitted a representation opposing the recently introduced HILTP. They alleged that the policy would lead to a multi-crore land scam in the name of transforming industrial lands. The delegation urged the Governor to halt the implementation of the policy framework and constitute a committee headed by a retired high court judge to examine and determine an appropriate land conversion policy.
Ramchander Rao alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was attempting to convert vast tracts of industrial land into multi-use zones, paving the way for illegal real estate activity. He accused the government of trying to exploit around 9,000 acres for commercial gains under the guise of land transformation. He criticised the government for adopting what he described as anti-people policies and announced that the BJP would hold a Maha Dharna at Indira Park on December 7 to oppose the state’s decisions, including the move to expand GHMC limits through the merger of surrounding gram panchayats and municipalities.