HYDRAA gets its own police station, check details here
The newly established police station would register cases against land grabbers and encroachers
By Sistla Dakshina Murthy Published on 7 Jan 2025 8:28 PM IST
HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath (File Photo)
Hyderabad: HYDRAA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency) will establish a dedicated police station at the B-block in Buddha Bhavan, Secunderabad, to protect government assets and combat land encroachments.
A government order in this regard was issued by special chief secretary Ravi Gupta on Tuesday.
The station would be headed by an ACP/DSP rank officer as the Station House Officer (SHO). Cases would be registered based on directives from the commissioner of HYDRAA, and police personnel for the station will be deputed from existing resources.
Land grabbers, encroachers, public property damagers, public property defacement, and other cases involving asset protection and other HYDRAA activities will be prosecuted at the HYDRAA police station.
HYDRAA's responsibility to protect water bodies
In July 2024, the Telangana Government constituted HYDRAA. The main function of HYDRAA is to protect assets, such as lakes, nalas, parks, layout open spaces, playgrounds, government lands etc of Urban Development Authorities (UDA), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Rural Local Bodies (RLBs). At ground level, the agency consists of teams monitoring the functioning of parks and lakes.
The jurisdiction of HYDRAA will cover the area leading up to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and which is co-terminus with the tri-police commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda. These areas are difficult to process and monitor, especially for regular police stations which have other types of cases to also process.
The need for a separate police station to handle encroachments
Therefore, HYDRAA commissioner AV Ranganath has requested chief minister A Revanth Reddy to establish a separate dedicated police station to the agency to protect government assets and combat land encroachments.
The State government, after careful examination, ordered the creation of a new exclusive HYDRAA police station at Budha Bhavan within its territorial limits, subject to adjustment of the police personnel to the new police station on a deputation basis.
Concerns were raised regarding the legal framework for HYDRA's establishment. In response, the government amended the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act of 1955. As part of this amendment, Section 374-B was introduced, authorizing the government to appoint an officer or create an institution to protect lakes and public properties.
