T’gana govt begins demolition drive along banks of Musi river
The move comes amid a political row over the state government’s decision to demolish 10,000-odd dwellings
The Telangana government on Tuesday began demolition of house along the Musi river bed in Hyderabad as part of the riverfront development project, people familiar with the matter said.
The revenue authorities of the government deployed heavy bulldozers to pull down several independent residential houses and apartments at Musanagar, Shankarnagar and Rasoolpura areas of Chaderghat in south Hyderabad.
The move comes amid a political row over the state government’s decision to demolish 10,000-odd dwellings, with the opposition criticising the Musi Riverfront Development Project (MRDP). Residents also staged protests despite the authorities assuring that all steps would be taken to rehabilitate the displaced families.
On Tuesday, the authorities pulled down the illegal structures marked with “RB-X” (river bed extreme) amid tight security by the police.
“Only those houses are being demolished whose owners voluntarily vacated and agreed to shift to double-bedroom houses constructed by the government,” an MRDP official said, requesting anonymity.
The revenue authorities also arranged vehicles to shift the belongings of such residents to move to the houses allotted to them in Uppal.
In all, 2,116 houses were built on the river bed of Musi and another 7,850 in its buffer zone. In the first phase, the authorities served notices for demolition of 1,600 occupied houses in the Musi riverbed. “Of these 1,600 houses, around 140 houses are now being demolished,” the official said.
The official also said the action was being taken to prevent potential flooding and to ensure the safety of residents in the vicinity. “We are asking other residents to cooperate with the government in the demolition exercise and accept the alternative housing being offered to them,” the official added.
he state government on September 25 issued orders allotting approximately 15,000 double-bedroom housing units for rehabilitation of the eligible economically poor families that will be displaced owing to the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
Some residents objected to the authorities launching the demolition even before they could finish shifting and said they wanted two to three days to move to the two-bedroom houses. Others were also complaining that the double bedroom houses allotted to them were not completely ready.
Last week, revenue authorities conducted a survey of houses and other structures all along the Musi river in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts as part of the removal of structures that came up in the full tank level (FTL) and buffer zone of the river.