Social activist and former Congress leader Bakka Judson on Monday put ‘RB-X’ markings on Telangana State Secretariat and the officer of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to protest over the ongoing survey in areas along the Musi River.
Leaders of opposition parties have been questioning the government on what it would do to the Secretariat and GHMC office which come under Full Tank Level (FTL) FTL and buffer zone limits of Hussain Sagar Lake.
Judson on Monday pasted ‘RB-X’ on the gates of both the Secretariat and GHMC office.
Authorities, who have been conducting a survey in the Musi River bed and buffer zone, are making similar markings on the houses and other structures that are likely to be demolished for the Musi beautification project.
Residents in the areas which are likely to be affected have been staging protests, demanding the state government to drop its demolition plans. They say that they have been living in these areas for decades and have all legal documents including registration of properties.
Leaders of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have been questioning the government’s silence on ‘illegal constructions’ within the FTL and buffer zone of Hussain Sagar in the heart of the city.
Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao had mentioned that Buddha Bhavan, which houses the office of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and the office of several other government institutions, is also in the FTL of Hussain Sagar.
HYDRAA has been carrying out demolitions in and around Hyderabad to reclaim the encroached areas of lakes, ponds, reservoirs and other water bodies.
Meanwhile, a delegation of AIMIM MLAs met the Hyderabad District Collector and Revenue Divisional Officer and questioned the survey being conducted along the Musi River.
AIMIM MLAs Kausar Mohiuddin and Mir Zulfeqar Ali told the officials that Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) was not created within the bounds of the law. They warned that those who want to demolish the houses in areas along the Musi River will have to walk over the bodies of AIMIM leaders.
According to a Hyderabad district official, the initials — RB — stand for the river bed, while X indicates that the house has been marked. Recently, the district administration marked over 1,000 structures which were allegedly encroaching upon the Musi river bed area.