HYDRAA not a monster, says Sridhar Babu

While providing clarifications on the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Legislative Council, Sridhar Babu emphasized that the main objective of HYDRAA was to safeguard lakes, canals, and other public properties, and that it was not intended to cause any harassment to the public.

Hyderabad: Amid continuing public outcry over demolitions taken up by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) in the GHMC limits, Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu on Saturday claimed due procedure would be followed before taking up any kind of demolition in the city and urged the opposition parties not to portray HYDRAA as a monstrous or intimidating agency and create fear among people.

Giving clarifications on the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Legislative Council, Sridhar Babu said the primary goal of HYDRAA was to protect lakes, canals and other public properties and that it was not created to harass people.

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“HYDRAA was created as a special agency to take care of lakes and government properties. Since the municipal authorities are not able to keep track of encroachments on a regular basis, the government decided to create a special agency for it. It will work within the framework of the law and no one will be allowed to misuse the power. There is no targeted victimisation in bringing HYDRAA,” he said.

There was no mention of HYDRAA in the Bill as it was created as part of the enabling provision of law, he said, adding that HYDRAA’s legality had been upheld by the High Court as it had been created under the GHMC and Telangana Municipalities’ Act. Commenting on the merger of Gram Panchayats with municipalities, the Minister said while merging GPs, steps would be taken to ensure that the nature of it was not affected .

BRS member T Ravinder Rao said the demolition taken up by the HYDRAA in Hyderabad had created fear among real estate companies and the construction business had completely collapsed. BRS member Shambipur Raju wanted to know who would pay compensation to people whose houses were demolished by HYDRAA.