‘HYDRA Must Follow Due Process while Razing Illegal Constructions’: BJP’s Kishan Reddy to Telangana CM

Union coal minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader G Kishan Reddy on Thursday questioned the actions of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRA). In a letter to chief minister A Revanth Reddy, he alleged that the Congress-led Telangana government, without any plan or policy, was demolishing structures on lake beds and buffer zones, creating fear and confusion among the people.

Kishan Reddy alleged that HYDRA was making unilateral decisions without considering the permissions and the documents issued by the revenue department of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).

The minister said that the Telangana government should have discussed the issue with all the stakeholders and then made a decision. He also asked the government to act against the officials responsible for granting various permissions.

“We (Telangana BJP) unequivocally oppose illegal encroachments, but we also believe that any action taken against such constructions must follow due process and adhere to the principles of natural justice. Particularly in the case of the poor and the middle class, these principles must guide the government’s actions,” he wrote. “The homes now being demolished under the guise of illegal constructions were often provided with essential services such as roads, streetlights, drinking water, drainage systems, and electricity by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). In some instances, even house numbers have been allocated by the GHMC.”

The union minister urged the government not to issue any special directions to banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs) to make decisions contrary to the existing lending norms as it would affect the housing sector.