HYDRAA undertakes demolition on encroached government land in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sep 21 (IANS) In another operation to remove encroachment on government land, HYDRAA on Sunday undertook demolition of unauthorised structures at Gajularamaram in Greater Hyderabad.

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) began the demolition early Sunday morning on 100 acres of land in Qutbullapur constituency in Medchal Malkajgiri district.

The value of the encroached land is said to be Rs 4,500 crore. The agency took up demolition after receiving a complaint that the encroachers are constructing houses on 60-70 square yards and selling them for Rs 10 lakh each.

HYDRAA officials demolished the structures in survey number 397. Local people staged a protest against the agency's action. They tried to resist the demolition by standing in front of the bulldozers. However, the police removed the protesters.

The locals argued that they spent money to buy the houses and that action should be taken against those who sold the land.

Out of 300 acres of government land, 100 acres were encroached. The value of the entire government land is estimated to be Rs 15,000 crore.

The land located about 10 km from the IT corridor was allotted by the government in the past to State Finance Corporation, Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Housing Board. With these institutions not utilising the allotted land, some people encroached the land in recent years and constructed houses on it.

Some local leaders allegedly encroached on about 103 acres of land over the last 3-4 years. The market value of the land in the area is Rs 40-50 crore per acre.

The single-bedroom houses built on the encroached land were sold to people working in Qutbullapur, Gajularamaram, Chintal and surrounding areas. With the collusion of some officials in the Revenue and Electricity departments, the construction on the encroached land was given electricity and water connections.

HYDRAA removed several encroachments in and around the city over the last year.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy last month termed HYDRAA a great system to protect Hyderabad by taking action against encroachments on water bodies and parks.

He claimed that HYDRAA has so far protected government lands worth Rs 30,000 crores and freed 13 parks and 20 lakes from encroachments.

Revanth Reddy said HYDRAA was constituted to make Hyderabad a safe destination for living and to curb encroachment of water bodies. Stating that cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai are facing flood problems, he said Hyderabad should not witness such a plight.

--IANS

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