Hyderabad: Over 100 obtain stay orders from HC against Musi evictions

Hyderabad: Over 100 homeowners in the city have obtained stay orders against eviction drives which are being conducted as part of the state government’s Musi River rejuvenation project.

Many houses and housing colonies in the Musi river’s embankment areas including Chaitanyapuri, Phanigiri Colony, Satyanagar, and Kothapet are now displaying notices of the stay orders they garnered over their compound walls. Notices say that their houses are protected from the demolition drives by order in writ petitions they submitted in the Telangana High Court.

Many residents, mostly underprivileged dwellers living on the banks of the River Musi, have been evicted recently. Most of them were rehabilitated to 2BHK flats built by the state government. Otherwise, people who can afford legal expenses to take it to the court and obtain stay orders have got themselves safe, at least temporarily from the government’s demolition and eviction overdrive.

Tense moments were witnessed in Hyderabad over the last few weeks after the state government and Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA) began evacuating residents who had built homes on the Musi river. HYDRA over the last month has also been on a drive to clear up encroachments on lakes across the city, which has drawn criticism from the opposition and also praise at the time from activists.

The resettlement of Musi river residents however was a little charged, as people in different areas initially opposed it, but the government being intent on it finally began the task. In response, Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on October 3 announced that the party’s legal team will be available in Telangana Bhavan to assist those affected by the Musi Riverfront development eviction.

KTR stated that individuals residing in the riverbed and buffer zones of the Musi and other lakes, who are facing potential eviction due to the Musi Riverfront Development project and the demolitions carried out by Hyderabad Disaster Response Assets Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA), can reach out to his party for legal assistance.