A year ago, 36-year-old Gandla Ramesh Kumar bought a shed near Nalla Cheruvu Lake in Hyderabad for Rs 45 lakh. The shed, where he ran a catering business, employed 50 workers.
"All of them have become homeless now," Kumar told The Quint after his shed was demolished in the recent 17-hour-long demolition drive undertaken by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA).
Despite strong opposition against the agency, demolitions in and around Hyderabad assumed alarming proportions on Sunday, 22 September after the HYDRAA staff swooped on buildings and structures to clear out lake beds and government lands, with the assistance of police force and revenue, irrigation, and town planning officials.
At least 25 villas in Patelguda and three multi-storied buildings in Kishtareddipet under Ameenpur Municipality in Sangareddy district as well as 16 sheds constructed within the full tank level (FTL) and buffer zone of Nalla Cheruvu Lake were pulled down.
Another shed owner, Ravi Kumar, said he was unaware that the site was in an FTL and buffer zone when he purchased it with a loan of Rs 1 crore to run a flexi printing unit.
The recent demolition drive came two days after the Telangana government decided to give statutory backing and a range of powers to the newly formed HYDRAA to clean up 'unauthorised' constructions.
Single Unified Agency to Clear Hyderabad Lakes
Set up by an executive order of the A Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government on 19 July, HYDRAA is a single unified agency to tackle disaster management caused by reckless constructions.
It has been entrusted with the responsibility of demolishing illegal structures on lake beds, parks, layout open spaces, playgrounds, stormwater drains, land parcels, roads, carriageways, and footpaths within the core urban region of Telangana in Hyderabad and three other adjoining districts up to Outer Ring Road (ORR).
Since its formation in July, the controversial agency has demolished at least 262 buildings and structures – and resumed 111 acres – from alleged encroachers of lakes in and around Hyderabad.
Quoting Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in its order, the government said 61 percent of lakes in the Telangana capital had disappeared from 1979 to 2024.
There are only 185 lakes in Hyderabad Metroplitan Development Agency (HMDA) limits as against 3,000-odd lakes during Nizam's rule. According to NRSC, the lakes could be traced in satellite images and Google Maps, but not found on ground.
The urban population of Hyderabad grew by 3.2 percent per annum, which was more than the national growth of 2 percent per annum, adding to the critical housing conditions in the city. The choking of drains with illegal constructions dried up outlets of rainwater, causing floods in slums, low-lying areas, and roads.
But the way HYDRAA has been operating has caused a stir in Telangana.
Arvind Susarla, Associate Professor at Centre for Regional Studies of University of Hyderabad, told The Quint,
"The work of HYDRAA had become contentious because of claims and counterclaims. The technical rationale being advanced by authorities and the emotional connect of people who own the houses, cutting across economic class, is what has made it contentious. They were at cross purposes."Arvind Susarla to The Quint
The technical aspects are to be viewed from the standpoint of what is happening to the water bodies, he added.
Prominent lake activist Lubna Sarwath added:
"Demolitions were imperative to ensure self-sufficient water levels in lakes and to prevent flooding of the city. But it cannot be at the cost of domestic helps, rag pickers, and others who are living close to stinking water within the FTL or buffer zone. They are living there in fear after their huts were marked for demolition."
"A line has to be drawn between people living in farmhouses and those who are there out of necessity. The former should be vacated first, but unfortunately, they had full assurance from authorities that they would not be disturbed," she told The Quint.
Defending HYDRAA, K Ashok Reddy, managing director, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, told The Quint that the government aimed to construct stormwater lines and sewer lines separately to ensure hundred percent carrying capacity for both streams.
"Now, stormwater has entered into sewer lines and vice versa, leading to water popping up on roads and causing pools," he said.
Legal Troubles Over Demolition Drive
In August, the Telangana High Court ordered an interim stay on the demolitions after the high-profile N-Convention Centre, owned by Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, was razed in Thammidikunta Lake near Jubilee Hills. However, the demolition was nearly completed before the court ordered the stay. The debris continues to remain at the site.
The high court also questioned the demolitions on the Errakunta Lake near Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad. As many as 52 houses were demolished in the area, forcing residents to approach the court.
Post the demolition of the N-Convention Centre, HYDRAA also inspected the farmhouse of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The inspection was done by a team of revenue and irrigation department officials, who alleged that it was constructed on a canal connecting Gandipet, which is a drinking water source of the capital city.
Refusing to stay the demolition of the farmhouse, the high court instructed HYDRAA to follow all due procedures before resorting to any action.
A similar case is currently pending before the Telangana High Court over the construction of an engineering and aeronautical college owned by Marri Laxman Reddy, son-in-law of BRS MLA Malla Reddy. This falls in the FTL of a tank at Dundigal.
An Emboldened HYDRAA
In the light of the legal troubles questioning the legality of HYDRAA, the Telangana government on Friday, 20 September took the ordinance route – pending a formal legislation when the Assembly meets – to arm HYDRAA with statutory powers. In the absence of such powers, the agency was acting as a facilitator for municipal administration and irrigation departments apart from urban and local bodies to demolish the illegal structures.
The government also entrusted the powers vested under the Water, Land and Tree Act of Telangana, which regulates use and exploitation of water and land resources, to HYDRAA. It will function as any other government department in discharge of its duties in 27 urban and 51 rural local bodies within ORR.
As many as 169 officers and 964 outsourcing staff have been allocated to HYDRAA.
Speaking to The Quint, a senior official said that the agency will take the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NRSC, and environmentalists to fix the FTL and buffer zones of lakes that had disappeared.
It will look into 928 complaints of encroachments of drains and construction of villas in lake beds which are pending with various departments, the official added.
The government has also enabled HYDRAA to procure modern and heavy equipment like the high reach jaw crushers and rock breakers from private companies by inviting tenders before 27 September.
Recent Action After Two-Week Lull
Tara, a domestic help whose shed with tin roof was demolished by HYDRAA in the FTL of Nalla Cheruvu Lake on Sunday, alleged to The Quint that officials landed at 5 am on Sunday to carry out the demolition "without any prior notice or information".
Showing a broken utensil, she said, "Where will my family take shelter now that everything is lost?"
Pointing at villas in the FTL of the same lake, she said that only small houses constructed by poor like hers were targeted.
Reacting to her outburst, HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath said only vacant buildings were demolished after giving notices. The HYDRAA officials had surveyed constructions in the two villages with drones and asked the owners to leave by Sunday, he added.
He further told The Quint that the shed was being used for commercial purpose to run a food catering business.
"There were 15 other sheds in the area doing similar activity which were demolished. The 16 sheds had come up in the FTL of the lake to run catering, flexi printing, and tent house businesses besides having their godowns."HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath
Meanwhile, Kalyan, a building owner in Kishtareddipet, which saw demolition of three multi-storied buildings, told The Quint that he had bought 300 sq yd plot in a survey number earmarked for private patta lands.
"But the government has now claimed it was a survey number allotted to government lands. I got permission from the local gram panchayat for construction – and paid the full fee for land regularisation scheme to the government."Kalyan claimed to The Quint
The land regularisation scheme introduced under the previous government helped regularise all violations on payment of prescribed fee in urban and rural areas of Telangana.
Starting his career as a mason, Kalyan said he had saved every rupee to buy the plot and construct the now-demolished building.
(N Rahul has been a journalist for the last 35 years. He was previously Chief of Bureau, Hyderabad for The Hindu newspaper.)
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