Under fire for Khajaguda demolitions on New Year’s Eve, Ranganath cites locals complained

Hyderabad: Under fire for demolishing certain structures in Khajaguda on New Year, HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath said the action was taken after locals complained of frequent water logging due to unchecked encroachments at Thoutoni Kunta and Bhagerathamma Cheruvu in Kajaguda.

“Demolition drive was conducted after locals complained of frequent water logging due to unchecked encroachments at Thoutoni Kunta and Bhagerathamma Cheruvu, Kajaguda," he said.

Ranganath said he along with other HYDRAA officers visited the areas on two occasions to assess the problem. “⁠Final notification for Thoutoni Kunta and preliminary notification for Bhageerathamma Cheruvu on FTL/ Buffer Zone demarcation was issued about eight years back,” he said. ⁠

HYDRAA Commissioner said he held a meeting with all the owners of commercial shops, real estate developers, and Sand Hikham Pattedars on December 28, 2o24. This meeting was video recorded.

“Google Earth clearly showed the encroachments in the Thoutoni Kunta and Bhageerathamma Cheruvu mentioning the FTL / Buffer Zone boundaries. ACE Corp Group has recently taken seven acres of encroached land from the Shikham Pattedars ( Mekala Anjaiah and others) for development. After #HYDRAA conducted demolition, the real estate company has moved a lunch motion in the Telangana High Court,” he said.

He said the owners of the ACE Corp group also attended the meeting along with others. "Shikham Pattedars of Khajaguda Cheruvu were also running shops in the buffer zone. They were filling Cheruvu with construction debris as part of the encroachment into the Bhageerathamma lake. In November 2024, HYDRAA teams caught some tippers dumping construction material into Bhageerathamma Lake during nighttime. ‘Sandhya Constructions ‘ was found to be responsible for the dumping. ⁠A criminal case was booked against Sandhya Constructions, its owner Sandhya Sridhar Rao, tipper operators, etc at the Raidurgam Police Station, Cyberabad,” he said

He said Shikham Pattedars Mekala Anjaiah and others were running shops in the lake buffer zone, getting the lake filled with construction debris, and also entering into development agreements with real estate companies.