The Hyderabad disaster response and asset protection agency (HYDRAA), which was constituted by the Congress government in Telangana to take up demolition of illegal structures uses along the water bodies, will soon be get powers by amending the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, an official familiar with the matter said.
State governor Jishnu Dev Varma on Tuesday night approved an ordinance that gives statutory to the demolitions being carried out by HYDRAA by amending the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act. “The gazette notification promulgating the ordinance will be issued in a day or two,” a senior official in the state secretariat said on condition of anonymity.
The development comes in the wake of a series of petitions filed in the state high court questioning the statutory powers of HYDRAA to take up demolitions arbitrarily. On Monday, the high court pulled up HYDRAA commissioner A V Ranganath for taking up demolitions without any legal powers.
The ordinance approved on Tuesday seeks to add clause 384-B to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act, which will grant HYDRAA morer powers to carry out its mandate of demolishing the structures in Full Tank Levels (FTL) and buffer zones around lakes and nalas. It would be empowered to issue notices to the encroachers to vacate the structures built on the lake beds and buffer zones.
The draft ordinance was approved by the state cabinet, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, during a meeting on September 20. This ordinance aims to strengthen HYDRAA’s authority in protecting lakes, nalas, and government properties, as well as enabling the clearance of encroachments on them.
{{/usCountry}}The draft ordinance was approved by the state cabinet, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, during a meeting on September 20. This ordinance aims to strengthen HYDRAA’s authority in protecting lakes, nalas, and government properties, as well as enabling the clearance of encroachments on them.
{{/usCountry}}The draft ordinance was sent to the governor for approval. After a 10-day review with the senior officials of the state municipal administration and urban development, the governor granted his approval, the official quoted above said.
The ordinance envisages transfer of powers hitherto under the purview of different departments to HYDRAA enabling its uninterrupted operations. It vests special powers to the agency to conduct survey of full tank level (FTL) of various water bodies and take steps to ensure that there are no encroachments on them.
In addition t/o amendments to GHMC and related Acts, powers drawn from Land Encroachment Act, Land Revenue Act, Municipalities Act, Panchayat Raj Act and WALTA Act have been conferred on the agency to initiate action against encroachments on Government lands, particularly those around the water bodies.
The ordinance will be replaced by a comprehensive legislation in the special session of the legislature being contemplated by the state government after Dasara festival, the official added.