The Terror of 'RB-X': More Demolitions in Hyderabad – This Time Along Musi River

On 1-2 October, at least 132 houses were demolished, displacing hundreds of people, most of whom were Muslims.

On 1-2 October, at least 132 houses were demolished in the slums of Shankar Nagar and the adjoining areas of Vinayaknagar, Moosanagar, and Rasoolpura as part of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's Musi Riverfront Development Project, displacing hundreds of people, most of whom were Muslims.

(Photo: N Rahul/The Quint)

Days after the Telangana government-backed Revenue Department marked Mohammad Baba's house for demolition with 'RB-X' using red paint, he and his family of 14 were evicted from the banks of Musi River.

A week earlier, a drone survey had revealed nearly 1,000 dwellings along the river as vulnerable to flooding. Following this, the revenue staff had gone on a massive operation to mark 'RB-X' (riverbed extreme) with stencil on houses close to the river. As many as 2,166 houses with tin roofs were identified – and notices were served to 1,600 houses to vacate immediately in the first phase. Out of that, over 200 houses were demolished.

As many as 2,166 houses with tin roofs were identified – and notices were served to 1,600 houses to vacate immediately in the first phase. Out of that, over 200 houses were demolished.

(Photo: N Rahul)

Baba, a 52-year-old autorickshaw driver, who lived in Chaderghat's Shankar Nagar basti in Hyderabad, recalls,

"The police forcibly vacated my house on the morning of 1 October as authorities (revenue and municipal staff) landed at the doorstep for demolition."

The same day, Baba was given a two-bedroom flat in a government-owned housing project at Chanchalguda, 3 km away from his demolished house. "Our household belongings were pushed into a Tata Ace goods transport vehicle – and we were moved here," he adds.

On 1-2 October, at least 132 houses were demolished in the slums of Shankar Nagar and the adjoining areas of Vinayaknagar, Moosanagar, and Rasoolpura as part of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's Musi Riverfront Development Project, displacing hundreds of people, most of whom were Muslims.

'Lost Money, Our Families Separated'

Baba's new tenement is on the fifth floor of a 10-storied building with a non-functional escalator. He dumps many of his household articles in the corridor outside the home as the house is already crammed with items of immediate necessity. He keeps the main door open to watch over his belongings outside.

"I bought a 100 square yard land for Rs 12 lakh and spent another Rs 20 lakh for construction. There is no word from government whether I will get back the money."

Mohammad Baba

Baba runs a rented sharing-autorickshaw from Uppal to Kothi. He has four sons, a daughter, and five grandchildren. One of his sons is also an autorickshaw driver.

Owing to the space constraint in the allotted tenement, his two daughters-in-law and their children have been living at their parents' houses since the demolition.

On the sixth floor in the same building, Mohammad Habeeb Qureshi, a private cab driver, and his nine siblings were also moved into a two-bedroom flat with a built-up area of 560 square feet.

Car driver Mohammad Habeeb Qureshi who was separated from five brothers and two sisters after the demolition. He is now sharing a double bed room house with two other siblings at Chanchalguda.

(Photo: N Rahul/The Quint)

Due to lack of space, Qureshi's seven siblings have rented accommodation elsewhere, leaving the newly acquired flat to three siblings.

"We never faced any hardship despite living together on a 150 square yard plot at Chaderghat for 12 years. My family had pooled Rs 10 lakh to buy the plot and spent Rs 12 lakh for construction. Now not only have we lost money, but also, we are living away from each," he tells The Quint.

After HYDRAA Demolition, Riverbanks Under Spotlight

The demolition on riverbanks in Hyderabad have shifted the focus from the much-hyped demolition drive on unauthorised constructions in lake beds and government lands by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA) in the last two months.

As against land sharks, who were the target of HYDRAA, the Revenue Department-led operation is on slums that mushroomed on the banks of Musi River in the heart of Hyderabad.

A severe jolt suffered by the Telangana government following the suicide by a middle-aged woman in the backdrop of demolitions in Kukatpally on 27 September – and the reprimand of HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath by the Telangana High Court over a plethora of issues three days later – have supposedly applied brakes to the progress of the agency. Read The Quint's ground report from Kukatpally here.

On 1 October, the government launched the cleanup of illegal constructions along Musi, a tributary of River Krishna, that crisscrosses some main thoroughfares of Hyderabad. 

Speaking on different ocassions after the demolitions, Chief Minister Reddy said the development of Musi will not stop, notwithstanding any number of obstacles it might face. "It will happen at your hands," he told newly recruited assistant executive engineers and other officers of the government.

He also said, "Nobody is naming their newborn children Musi like other rivers – Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati – because Musi carries toxicants and is polluted. We will develop the river to make people adopt the name in their families."

On another occasion, he hurled a challenge at Opposition leaders to accept his offer for a discussion on what best could be done for the population on Musi banks. "What is the alternative? Shall we construct houses for them? Should we leave Musi like this? Let's talk it over," he said.

"The suggestions and advice of the Opposition can be documented in the form of a resolution by the Assembly. The government may at best stop earth-moving bulldozers if Musi was left to its fate. But who can stop waves of water threatening to bulldoze Hyderabad if the river turns violent."

A Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister, Telangana

At another venue, Reddy said the government launched the programme to lend dignity to the livelihood of people on Musi banks from diseases and floods.

Musi River travels 240 km after taking birth in Anantagiri hills of Vikarabad district, joining Krishna at Vadapalli village on the inter-state border with Andhra Pradesh. The government has confined its beautification plan to 55 km from Manchirevula to Nagole – the extreme corners in opposite directions along the river in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

'Senior Congress Leadership Sounded Caution'

It was on 25 September that the government issued orders allotting 15,000 housing units in '2 BHK Dignity Housing Colonies' that housed the popular 'double bedroom houses' constructed by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government in multi-storied complexes at 14 locations.

Since most of the houses were already occupied in the lower floors, the allotments for evacuees from riverbanks were made from the fifth floor and above. Of the estimated 100,000 units in 14 locations, only 40,000 were allotted under the BRS rule. The rest were lying vacant due to unfinished work or delay in identifying of beneficiaries.

Soon after the revenue staff undertook the operation to mark 'RB-X' on houses close to Musi, the authorities carried out the demolitions. They were done manually – and not using heavy machinery – as most of the houses were in narrow by-lanes.

The demolitions were preceded by a meeting of Reddy with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary KC Venugopal in Delhi, in which the Telangana chief minister was advised to observe restraint.

A Congress functionary, who did not want to be named, said that Kharge told Reddy that the culprits in such cases tend to get away, while the poor were victims, implying that the land may have been purchased by the latter from people who actually encroached riverbed to make a fast buck. A large number of the demolished houses, in fact, did not have permissions, yet they had electricity and water connections.

The senior leaders also sounded caution as the Congress was protesting against and fighting legal battles over bulldozer action in BJP-ruled states. "So, the party should not be found guilty of the same action in states ruled by them," the source said.

The markings, however, triggered severe political backlash as the BRS and Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) leaders took to streets to express solidarity with the victims.

• Three MLAs of the AIMIM issued an ultimatum to Mahipal, Revenue Divisional Officer of Hyderabad, to "stop the markings or face dire consequences"

• Former BRS minister T Harish Rao led 10 legislators to mobilise residents at Langar Houz and Hydershahkot against the government

• BJP MP Eatala Rajender staged a dharna at Kothapet

• BRS working president KT Rama Rao also alleged that the project was a "money spinner for the Congress"

To counter the adverse campaign, a 2016 video of BRS president and former chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao, expressing a strong resolve of the then government to crack down on 28,000 illegal constructions on storm water drains in Hyderabad went viral.

The following year, the Musi Riverfront Development Project was floated as a multipurpose vehicle for the overall development of the river. The BRS had appointed chairmen for the project twice.

Defending the initiative by the government, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu said the beautification project was "the BRS' baby which the Congress is now taking forward".

Later, on 5 October, the government issued an order constituting a 14-member support committee to ensure smooth transition of livelihood of evacuees to new residences.

'Pained But Happy'

Mohammed Ghousuddin, a tailor, expresses satisfaction with his new accommodation.

"I purchased 125 square yard land in Shankar Nagar for Rs 5 lakh and spent another Rs 5 lakh for construction. But I'm happy that I've got my money's worth now from this flat", he said.

He, however, adds the loss of house, where he lived for 14 years, pains him.

A 50-year-old autorickshaw driver, Mohammad Aijaz Khan, who was allotted a double bedroom house at Batasingaram, 24 km away from his demolished house, said he had no complaints over the alloted house, but he is unsure about his work now.

"I have to go back to Chaderghat every day from Batasingaram to ferry my regular passengers and drop hirers at destinations during routine rounds," he says.

Meanwhile, Zaheda Begum, an elderly woman, tells The Quint, "Where do I go from here at my age?"

Zaheda Begum fears the thought of having to leave her house, where she has lived for 40 years.

Begum is living amidst ruin caused by demolition in a single room facing a lane. She is a tenant and lives with her two adult sons.

For such defiant families, G Yugandhar Reddy, the in-charge of a help desk at Chanchalguda housing complex helping families to settle in, said the local AIMIM MLA, Mohammad Bin Abdullah Balala, and some corporators will help them to motivate them to move out.