Harish Rao alleges massive illegal quarrying in Hyderabad by Minister Ponguleti’s firm

BRS leader T. Harish Rao alleged illegal quarrying by a company linked to Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in Rajendranagar, sought closure and a probe, and questioned alleged violations of environmental, mining and land allotment norms.

Hyderabad:BRS Legislative Party deputy leader T Harish Rao levelled serious allegations of large-scale illegal quarrying against a company linked to Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in Hyderabad. He slammed the authorities for turning a blind eye to illegal quarrying in broad daylight, and demanded immediate closure of the operations and a high-level probe.

Harish Rao stated that Raghava Constructions, belonging to the Revenue Minister’s family, was running quarries in the Manasa Hills area of Rajendranagar mandal, near the Outer Ring Road (ORR), without statutory clearances. He said the hills were being crushed day and night using heavy machinery, causing massive loss to the exchequer and environmental damage.

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Listing alleged violations, the BRSLP deputy leader said the quarry lacks Consent for Establishment (CFE) and Consent for Operation (CFO) from the Telangana Pollution Control Board, environmental clearance, mining lease permissions from the Mines and Geology Department, land conversion and HMDA approvals, explosives licence, groundwater permissions and revenue clearances among others.

“It is not a minor lapse but a criminal offence,” he said, questioning why the Revenue, Mining, Pollution Control Board and HMDA authorities had failed to act for months. He asked whether illegality becomes legal when it involves a Minister’s family, and whether the law was different for them than common people.

Harish Rao also alleged irregular allocation of 17 acres of government land for a quarry linked to the Chief Minister’s son-in-law’s associates through nomination, bypassing open bidding. He said this had resulted in crores of rupees in losses to the State’s exchequer.

He questioned the silence of senior Ministers, including Finance and Energy Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Environment and Forests Minister Konda Surekha, and Geology and Mines Minister G Vivek Venkataswamy. He demanded to know whether vigilance wings were functioning. “If there is no wrongdoing, order an immediate investigation. Close the illegal quarry and recover the value of the natural resources extracted, along with penalties,” he asserted.

Accusing the government of targeting the poor with demolitions while turning a blind eye to alleged violations by those in power, Harish Rao demanded cancellation of the land allotment and a transparent, open bidding process. He released photographs and details of the alleged quarry operations as evidence on social media, and challenged the Chief Minister to verify the facts on the ground. If no action was initiated, he declared that he would personally visit the site to stop exploitation.