Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s demolition drive against illegal encroachments on lake beds via the HYDRA agency in the city limits is giving sleepless nights to many. On Tuesday, scores of people , including those linked to religious institutions turned up at the HYDRA commissioner’s office with all sorts of requests pertaining to issues concerning their properties.
With the issue also now becoming political, opposition leaders also now fear that their properties will be targetted by the ruling Congress government in the state. The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA) agency in the last few weeks has demolished encroachments on lake beds belonging to Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and BJP leaders as well. Moreover, it also took back land from the N convention centre, owned by Tollywood actor Nagarjuna.
The BJP in Telangana has also been demanding HYDRA to look into alleged encroachments by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader and Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaduddin Owaisi. The matter pertains to the Fatima Owaisi college, which the BJP claims was built illegally on a lake bed. The state government is yet to respond to that.
“HYDRA was created after a discussion in the Assembly, so even if our own party members are found in the wrong, their properties will be demolished. This has nothing to do with political vendetta,” a senior Congress leader from Hyderabad told Siasat.com. He added that the agency will do its job as per its mandate only.
However, opposition leaders and some activists are a little skeptical. “The defections from BRS to Congress have stopped, so this entire exercise of HYDRA might be to arm twist more of our MLAs to defect, or to even extort money. We have to wait and watch what happens,” a BRS leader opined on the matter, when asked about the ongoing demolition drive.
Among activists, there is certainly some cheer as lakes like the Bam Rukn-ud-Daula are now free ot encroachments. However, there is concern that an agency like HYDRA can be easily used for political purposes if its mandate and powers are not made clear. “Tomorrow, the BRS or BJP will come to power, and we have seen how vengeful politicians can get. What about journalists and others who criticise the government? Will they find fault and just come bulldoze their homes? All these things also need to be answered,” said an activist who did not want to be named.
Moreover, it is to be seen how HYDRA’s functioning also affects political equations between the Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), given that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi have been on relatively good terms with Revanth Reddy after the Congress came to power in Telangana last year. Asaduddin in fact has even criticised the action taken by HYDRA.
