SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) Commissioner AV Ranganath has downplayed the allegations against his department, saying it was the handiwork of some land grabbers who were hell-bent on spreading false propaganda against HYDRAA.
Making it clear that either the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) or the Congress, he said HYDRAA is apolitical. He said his agency has absolute freedom to discharge its duties as delegated to it by the state government.
He appealed to the people not to believe in the false propaganda of those who managed the system and encroached upon lakes, nalas, parks and government lands.
He made these statements at a round-table meeting organised by Rashtriya Lok Dal on HYDRAA’s activities and its role in protecting the lakes and environment in Hyderabad on Saturday, June 20.
Asserting that the portrayal of HYDRAA as a force which has been demolishing the huts of the poor suddenly during midnight hours is totally false, he said that those who were really poor living in those hut dwellings would be identified and provided 2bhk houses on humanitarian grounds, as recommended by HYDRAA to the state government.
He said that while doing good to a lakh population, some encroachers will have to face the law.
Noting that in Ailapur village of Ameenpur mandal of Sangareddy district, HYDRAA has reclaimed government lands extending to 862 acres, Ranganath said that since its formation, HYDRAA has reclaimed government lands extending to 2,450 acres.
Since the inception of HYDRAA, Ranganath said that 600 operations were carried out by the agency, reclaiming and protecting government properties worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore.
“If there is any wrongdoing on the part of HYDRAA, we are ready to apologise, rectify our mistake and go ahead with our work. But we will never become a platform for political settlements,” he said, adding that colleges like Fathima Owaisi have mushroomed across the city by grabbing the lake lands, and HYDRAA will not remain silent while acting against such institutions.
Ranganath also disclosed that the state government was constructing inter-city bus terminals in the government lands reclaimed by HYDRAA, and that efforts were on to construct schools, hostels and Indiramma houses in those lands.
Talking about Bathukamma Kunta in Amberpet, Tammidikunta and Eedulakunta lakes in Madhapur, which HYDRAA has been trying to protect and restore, Ranganath said that it was only after ascertaining facts by verifying the revenue records, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) satellite imagery, Survey of India records and village maps that action was initiated by HYDRAA. He dared those arguing against HYDRAA’s actions to prove otherwise.
For instance, he said that in Mushkin Cheruvu near Narsinghi, some land grabbers made the poor erect huts inside the lake, which was determined by HYDRAA.
“When they were sent eviction notices, even more huts were erected there. We had to clear them from that land in the presence of the media,” he said.
Ranganath said that there were several examples of influential people with political clout grabbing lake lands by making the poor erect huts on lake lands and government lands. He said HYDRAA will act with an iron fist against such encroachers.
HYDRAA is resuming Prajavani, its weekly grievance redressal programme, from Monday, June 22, keeping in mind the monsoons and the need to be more proactively engaged with the citizens.
Priority will be given to the issues arising out of the rains during the monsoon season. The citizens have also been urged to inform about any encroachment of lakes, public parks, government lands and other public utility lands during the Prajavani programme.
SOURCE : SIASAT
