Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. File
| Photo Credit: Dinesh Krishnan
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has taken a serious view of complaints that few officials at lower levels were resorting to corruption in the name of the demolition drive launched by the Hyderabad Disaster Response, Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA).
The Chief Minister said it has been brought to his notice that some officials of the Revenue, Municipal and Irrigation departments were demanding money from the building owners citing notices and complaints made against the latter a few years ago. He cautioned that stringent action would be initiated against officials found guilty of involvement in such affairs.
He directed the officials of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to focus on the officials who were indulging in such irregularities so that appropriate action could be initiated against them. The Chief Minister’s directives reflect the firmness with which the Government was acting against encroachments in lake and tank beds and demolishing the illegal structures.
Mr. Revanth Reddy said in an informal chat with reporters on Wednesday (August 28,2024) that the HYDRAA will continue its drive to clear encroachments on water bodies and “the Government is in no mood to spare the guilty”. The authority would not consider the political affiliations of the owners of the farm houses which were built in breach of rules, he said.
The Chief Minister expressed his readiness to constitute a fact finding committee on encroachments of FTL and buffer zones of lakes and tanks and said he would not mind if BRS senior leader T. Harish Rao headed it to ascertain the facts.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari has said that the Government was working out modalities to handover the protection of lakes, tanks, parks, nalas and other public amenities in the outer ring road limits to HYDRAA. The Chief Secretary convened a high level meeting to discuss the progress of removal of encroachments in tanks/lakes, implementation of the High Court’s directions on protection of government properties and steps that should be taken to give more powers and staff to HYDRAA.
Notices by different departments creating confusion
She said different departments like the Irrigation, Municipal Administration and Panchayat Raj were issuing separate notices for clearing encroachments on lakes and tanks and this was leading to confusion. She directed the Municipal Administration department to evolve guidelines entrusting the entire process to HYDRAA so as to prevent the confusion.
More responsibilities and staff to HYDRAA
The Government had resolved to entrust the responsibility of issuing notices pertaining to Land Encroachment Act, Land Grabbing Act, GHMC Act and Irrigation Act to HYDRAA and steps were being taken in this direction. Efforts were underway to prepare a comprehensive action plan for removal of encroachments on lakes/tanks as well as public properties through HYDRAA which would soon be provided additional staff to discharge its responsibilities more rigorously.
In addition to tanks/lakes and other water bodies within the ORR limits, the Government had decided to entrust HYDRAA with the responsibility of twin reservoirs of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar. As many as 72 teams were functioning under HYDRAA at present and steps were being taken to further strengthen it by drafting officials from police, survey, irrigation and other departments.
