The Commissioner, Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency A.V. Ranganath has initiated action against six officials who had allowed unauthorised structures within the buffer zones of lakes.
Mr. Ranganath has addressed a letter to the Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty recommending criminal cases against the officials for abetment of encroachments of lakes. The errant officials include Nizampet Municipal Commissioner Ramakrishna Rao and Deputy Commissioner of Chandanagar circle of GHMC N. Sudhamsh.
Others involved are Assistant City Planner, Chandanagar, HMDA’s Assistant Planning Officer, Assistant Director, Survey Settlements, Nizampet, and Tehsildar of Bachupally. As per the details shared by Mr. Ranganath, the Chandanagar officials have circumvented the online building permissions system in TS-bPASS too in order to accord permissions to the illegal structures within the Erla Cheruvu’s buffer zone.
“Despite the Irrigation officials’ objections, they accorded the permission, by putting a dot in the remarks column filling of which is mandatory,” Mr. Ranganath shared.
The other four officials were indicted with regard to violation of the Errakunta lake in Bachupally area of the Nizampet Municipal Corporation, where government land was declared as private. In this case, the Assistant Director, Survey Settlement had submitted a report confirming it as private land, but got acknowledgement for another report declaring it as government land, which he kept with himself, Mr. Ranganath shared.
