Will crush lake encroachments with iron hand: Telangana CM Revanth

Hyderabad: A day after authorities demolished a convention centre here co-owned by actor Nagarjuna, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said his government would not spare those who encroached upon lakes and also crack down on such activities even if they are influential in the society.

Speaking at a function by the Hare Krishna Movement, Reddy said, "Bhagavad Gita is an inspiration to demolish illegal structures constructed in full tank level (FTL) of water bodies by the HYDRAA. As per the teachings of Lord Sri Krishna, we have taken up these demolitions in the ORR limits. Since powerful people own these farm houses, there is a lot of pressure, but this is a matter of the future. We will follow the preaching of Lord Krishna which proclaims that for the good of the people, one should follow Dharma in order to defeat Adharma through a fight."

Officials of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), GHMC, Town planning, irrigation and revenue departments on Saturday removed encroachments in the Full Tank Level of the / Buffer zones of Tammidikunta lake and amongst the many structures removed, N- Convention co-owned by Nagarjuna was also one of the unauthorised structures. The N-Convention is built in the FTL / Buffer zone and has no building permission whatsoever, a government release said.

“That is the reason despite pressures, though ( some of our) friends have farmhouses, the HYDRAA was created ( for protecting lakes and government properties). I want to do some good to the people as part of that. The sole objective is to liberate these lakes from the encroachers. We will crush encroachments with an iron hand. Though there are pressures, we will not go back and we will remove those encroachments,” the CM asserted.

Lakes are part of Indian culture and people depend on them for livelihood. He also said some of the farmhouses built near lakes release sewer into drinking water bodies such as Gandipet which supply drinking water to parts of the city.

Revanth Reddy further said he will not be a true public representative if he failed to protect the lakes and interests of people. The city’s chain of lakes were designed by the erstwhile Nizam administration after a great deluge in 1908 with the help of famous engineer Mokshagundam Vishvesvaraya.

Speaking to the press, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi says, "Corporators of AIMIM have represented to the mayor and municipal commissioner on HYDRA explaining that it has no legislative and legal authority. MLA Kaushar also met the chief secretary Shanthi Kumari, GHMC office is also in the FTL area. When I used to go to school, GHMC office, Necklace Road are all in FTL areas. CCMB office at Himayatsagar is also on FTL, please go and break them also. FTL areas have been earmarked by the stones during the Nizam era. We have approached all the authorities and ask the government to look into it."

Jeevan Reddy welcomes HYDRAA

MLC (Graduate Constituency) T Jeevan Reddy hailed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for constituting HYDRAA to crack a whip on the illegal structures constructed in the FTL and buffer zones of various lakes in the ORR limits.

The MLC commended the efforts of the HYDRAA for carrying out demolition drive in Hyderabad irrespective of politics. In this regard, Revanth Reddy should study the possibilities of expanding the limits of the HYDRAA across the state especially to various towns across the state to protect the lakes.

Jeevan Reddy also recalled that Khairathabad former MLA P Janardhan Reddy also agitated to remove the illegal structures in the buffer zones in Hussain Sagar. The CM should focus on removing the encroachments in the buffer zone of Hussain Sagar through HYDRAA, he added.