Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) Commissioner AV Ranganath has denied rumours that his residence was allegedly within the buffer zone of Krishna Kanth Park’s Peddacheruvu lake, in Hyderabad’s Yousufguda. HYDRAA was established by CM Revanth Reddy in July 2024, and among its objectives is to prevent encroachment of ponds and lakes in Hyderabad, and get rid of illegal constructions. The agency has been controversial since its inception for the way it has gone about razing buildings, with many alleging that some of the demolitions were anti-poor, or targeted based on political affiliations.
On Sunday, November 24, the head of the agency Ranganath issued a press note saying his house is located “about one kilometer from the lake’s bund,” Deccan Chronicle reported. He said that only the land that is up to 10 metres around the lake’s bund is considered to be in the buffer zone, according to the Irrigation Department. He said that even in terms of aerial distance, his house was 380 metres away from the lake’s bund.
Ranganath said that his residence in Madhuranagar was built by his father in 1980, and that the Peddacheruvu lake was situated in the same location where Krishna Kanth Park now stands.
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HYDRAA has razed many structures since its inception, including under-construction projects such as the Oro Sports Village and Palamuru Grill restaurants, for encroaching on Osman Sagar lake’s buffer zone. A building owned by Greenko Group, a renewable energy firm that contributed Rs 13 crore in electoral bonds to Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the N Convention Center, owned by Telugu actor Nagarjuna, were also demolished.