Authorities in Hyderabad have issued notices to Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s brother A. Tirupathi Reddy and several other property owners around Hyderabad’s Durgam Cheruvu Lake for alleged encroachments.
Amid the continuing crackdown Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) on illegal structures that have come up Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zone of water bodies in and around Hyderabad, notices were issued to 240 structures around the lake in Hitec City, the Information Technology hub.
The Chief Minister’s brother Tirupathi Reddy, who has a house near the lake, has also been issued the notice.
Several prominent residents in the posh area have been served notices asking them to remove the structures within 30 days as they fall within the Non-Development Zone of Durgam Cheruvu Lake.
Rangareddy District Collector and Serilingampally Deputy Collector issued notices to residents of Nectars Colony, Doctors Colony, Kavuri Hills, and Amar Society, which are adjacent to Cheruvu.
The notices issued under Section 23(1) of the Water, Land, and Trees Act (WALTA) state that structures encroached beyond the permissible limits of the lake be voluntarily demolished within the given timeframe. The authorities have made it clear that failure to comply will result in the demolitions.
The development has caused concern among residents and businesses in the areas surrounding the lake.
Politicians, some IAS and IPS officers, judges, prominent businessmen, and celebrities are among the residents who have been issued notices.
Durgam Cheruvu, often referred to as ‘Secret Lake,’ is a popular spot in the IT hub. Once spread over 100 acres, the lake has shrunken over the years due to construction activity around the lake since the mid-1990s when the development of IT cluster began.
The notice to the Chief Minister’s brother was issued the day after the Chief Minister vowed to demolish illegal constructions even if they belong to him or his family.
“CM Revanth Reddy challenges KTR, vows to demolish illegal constructions including his own or his family,” Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy boldly declared.
He stated on Wednesday that he will have his own and his family members’ houses demolished if Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao can demonstrate that they violate any norms.
He made it clear that any construction, including those by his family, built in FTL or buffer zones, will face demolition without exception.
HYDRAA, constituted recently by the state government, has so far reclaimed 43 acres of land by demolishing illegal structures on lakes including the N-Convention Centre of actor Nagarjuna, buildings owned by AIMIM MLA Mohammed Mubeen and MLC Mirza Rahmat Baig on heritage lake Bum-Rukn-Ud-Dowla and the properties of former Union Minister and Congress leader Pallam Raju’s brother Pallam Anand (ORO sports), Kaveri Seeds owner and former member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) G. V. Bhasker Rao and BJP leader Sunil Reddy, who contested as MLA candidate from Manthani constituency.
Authorities have also issued notices to two colleges owned by BRS MLA Marri Rajasekhar Reddy at Dundigal in Medchal Malkajgiri district on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
There are allegations that the two colleges have been built illegally in the FTL and Buffer Zone of Chinna Damaracheruvu Lake.
Last week, a police case was registered against BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy for allegedly building Anurag University in the buffer zone of a water body at Venkatapuram, Medchal-Malkajgiri district.
Officials on Wednesday surveyed Janwada village in Rangareddy district amid allegations that the farmhouse taken on lease by BRS leader K. T. Rama Rao encroached on a water body.