Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday, July 1, decided to entrust more responsibilities to the Disaster Management department under the Greater Hyderabad limits. The department will also be rechristened as Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring Protection (HYDRA). He also asked officials to take appropriate measures to restore the buildings of historical importance and dilapidated structures in the city.
In a meeting with state Municipal Administration, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Musi Riverfront Development officials today, the chief minister asked officials to assign the responsibilities to the authorities accordingly along with the changing of the entire system in line with the decision taken by the government.
The state Disaster Management department or HYDRA will take up the key responsibilities of protecting the lakes and ponds within the GHMC area of about two thousand kilometers, and nalas in the city, said a statement from the chief minister’s office. It will also protect government properties from the threat of encroachment, said Revanth Reddy.
“Apart from this, the disaster management wing will also provide services like the control of hoardings and flexies, drinking water pipelines, power supply lines, drainages, flood management and traffic control. CM Revanth Reddy directed Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari to prepare a draft on the reorganization, requirement of personnel, duties, allocation of funds and responsibilities of this department,” stated the release.
Revanth Reddy also ordered to increase the scope of the Disaster Management Department up to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) area with the increasing geographical area of Hyderabad as a city. The chief minister suggested making necessary changes to extend the services of the Disaster Management department to GHMC, 27 Municipalities, Corporations and 33 Gram Panchayats, said the CMO statement.
With the Disaster Management department’s scope increased, Revanth Reddy said that a DIG level officer will be appointed as the Director of HYDRA and the SP level officers will be nominated as Additional Directors. The CM also suggested constituting Special teams from GHMC, HMDA, water Board, City Traffic and various departments in the disaster department.
Apart from regular services during the floods and accidents, the chief minister directed the officials to restructure the entire disaster management wing to offer continuous services to the people of the city. He clarified that HYDRA should be active to deal with all problems being faced by the people in the city and also ordered to speed up the work taken up by the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
With regard to the restoration on historical sites, GHMC officials showed a powerpoint presentation on various historical places like City Library, Ayurvedic Hospital near Charminar, Nizamia Observatory, Gudimalkapur lake etc, said the release. “The chief minister suggested exploring ways to develop them as tourist spots. Among these, the CM advised to identify those which can be linked with the Musi Riverfront Development project.
Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary Dana Kishore, GHMC Commissioner Amrapali, GHMC Vigilance Disaster Management Commissioner AV Ranganath and Hyderabad Water Board MD Ashok Reddy participated in the meeting.
