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After actor Nagarjuna, KTR’s farmhouse inspected over alleged encroachment
The HYDRAA on Wednesday inspected the farmhouse of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on the outskirts of Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA), the exclusive agency created by the Telangana government to remove encroachments of water bodies, on Wednesday inspected the farmhouse of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on the outskirts of Hyderabad, people familiar with the matter said.
The HYDRAA authorities also served notices to the educational institutions of BRS lawmaker Ch Malla Reddy at Dundigal and that of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Bandlaguda, which also allegedly came up by encroaching water bodies.
The development comes days after the demolition of the N Convention Centre belonging to popular Telugu film actor Akkineni Nagarjuna at Madhapur in Hyderabad on August 24.
Also Read: Actor Nagarjuna’s convention hall on ‘encroached land’ razed
A team of officials from HYDRAA, along with officials from revenue and irrigation departments, conducted a joint inspection of the farmhouse of KTR at Janwada village of Shankarpally block on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Tuesday evening and again on Wednesday afternoon, on a specific information that the farmhouse was built in the buffer zone of Firangi Nala, also known as Bulkapur Nala, a canal that connects Osman Sagar reservoir and a part of it has encroached the lake.
The authorities took measurements of the farmhouse and that of the canal to ascertain to what extent it had encroached upon the lake and the buffer zone.
“The authorities are inspecting whether there was any violation of norms. After inspection, we shall submit a report based on which further action would be taken,” an official of the irrigation department familiar with the development said.
On August 21, the state high court refused to stay demolition of the farm house at Janwada, which KTR said he did not own but had taken on lease from his friend B Pradeep Reddy. The high court, however, asked the HYDRAA to take action following due procedures and issue notices before taking up any action.
Also Read: HC refuses to stay proposed demolition of KTR farmhouse, but says 'follow the rules'
The HYDRAA authorities also served notices on Marri Lakshman Reddy, son-in-law of BRS lawmaker Malla Reddy, for the construction of Marri Lakshman Reddy Institute of Technology (MLRIT) and Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in the full tank level and buffer zone of Chinna Damera tank at Dundigal on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The authorities gave him a weeks’ time to remove the constructions built in violation of the norms, failing which action would be taken. “We have filed a petition in the state high court on Wednesday seeking a stay on the demolitions. We are awaiting a court order,” Lakshman Reddy said.
Similar notices were issued to AIMIM a couple of days ago seeking to demolish the Fatima Owaisi College at Bandlaguda in the old city of Hyderabad, which allegedly came up after encroaching part of the Salkam Cheruvu.
AIMIM floor leader in the assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi strongly resisted the notice to demolish the Fatima Owaisi College. In a statement, he said the officials could shoot him dead but not destroy his college. He claimed that the institution nurtured by him was providing free education to thousands of students.
“If you want, rain bullets on me again, but don’t demolish that institution,” he declared, adding that those behind the demolition plans are jealous over the success of the institution.
HYDRAA commissioner and IPS officer A V Ranganath, however, said he had received representations from students and parents of the educational institutions that came up on lakes. “We shall not take hasty decisions on demolition of educational institutions that were built illegally,” he clarified, in a statement on Tuesday.
Stating that since the institutions are in the middle of the academic year and any demolition will affect the students, Ranganath said HYDRAA will first issue notices to such institutions. “The management must shift the students elsewhere and demolish the structure. If that does not happen, we will initiate action,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy said there was no question of going back on the demolition of illegal structures that came up on lake beds.
“We have nothing to do with politics. In fact, the first structure demolished by HYDRAA was that of senior Congress leader M M Pallam Raju. So, the organisation will take its own course of action and we don’t interfere,” he said.
The chief minister said if there were any illegal structures belonging to him or his family members, he would definitely get them demolished. “We are strictly following the Supreme Court guidelines on protection of water bodies,” he added.
