Welcoming the Telangana High Court’s ‘warning’ to Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Monday, September 30 questioned the motive behind the Musi River Front Development Project which is being taken up at an estimated cost of a whopping Rs 1.50 lakh crore. The government wants to beautify Musi along the lines of Thames in London. As part of the project, 10,000-odd dwellings alongside the river would be demolished. The decision has triggered strong protests from the residents.
Earlier in the day, the High Court slammed HYDRAA commissioner AV Ranganath for demolishing a house on a holiday, which effectively prevented the petitioner from approaching the court. The court observed that HYDRAA was trying to please their “political and executive bosses’.”
“Did you not know that demolitions cannot be done on a holiday? Do you know there is a verdict of this HC’s full bench not to do so on a holiday? Why did you not give the time of 48 hours to property owner to vacate the place?” the judge asked the HYRAA commissioner.
“What are your priorities and what are you doing? You promised to implement the six guarantees within 100 days of forming the government. Though it has been more than 300 days, you have not announced when you will fulfill these promises,” KTR said addressing the media on September 30.
Terming the Musi River Front Development Project as a “purposeless” project which only serves as a cosmetic enhancement of Hyderabad city, KTR asked why the government had taken up such an expensive project despite not having funds in the state exchequer. “Revanth Reddy has turned into an evil who is going to drag 25,000 families on the road and make 1 lakh residents homeless.”
KTR urged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to listen to the grievances of the victims. He asked if the government has any answers to the aggrieved residents who are being forced to vacate despite having pattas, paying property taxes, power bills, water bills etc for more than 30 years. He reminded the Congress party that it was their government which gave pattas to these residents.
KTR said that all these houses are legal since they have been recognised by the previous governments. He took strong exception to the Congress IT cell’s attempts to malign the residents as “encroachers” who constructed houses on full-tank level and buffer zone. “What were you doing all these years of your governance then? You have ruled for 50 years,” KTR said. The former Minister said that since 1954 no government had drawn any boundaries. For the first time our government had determined the boundaries of lakes and water bodies, he said.