Admitting that there was a lot of political pressure as the government agency HYDRAA began demolishing structures encroaching on tanks and lakes of Hyderabad, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said his government would continue the crackdown on encroachers even if they were influential in the society.

The chief minister’s statement came a day after the HYDRAA demolished the N Convention Centre belonging to Telugu actor Nagarjuna. So far, the HYDRAA has reclaimed 43.94 acres of encroached land within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) area within three months since its inception.

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Addressing a programme organised by the Hare Krishna Movement the chief minister said, “Nizams had developed Hyderabad hundreds of years ago as a lake city. Some farmhouses have been built for luxuries in the vicinity of the lakes and ponds which quench the thirst of crores of people. Waste water from farmhouses is being discharged into Gandipet (Osman Sagar) and Himayat Sagar which have been providing drinking water to the city.”

Reddy also said Bhagavad Gita was an inspiration when it came to demolishing illegal structures constructed at Full Tank Level (FTL) of the water bodies by the HYDRAA. Since powerful people owned these farmhouses there was a lot of pressure but this was a matter of the city’s future.

He said, “Being elected public representatives, we should not neglect this matter. The government started protecting the lakes from encroachments through HYDRAA. This is not a programme taken up for politics or political parties. The government has undertaken this programme with a will to provide better lives to future generations. We will not succumb to the pressure and instead take stringent action against the encroachers. We will follow the preaching of Lord Krishna which proclaims that for the good of the people one should follow Dharma to defeat Adharma through a fight.”

However, detractors were quick to point out that at the programme, the chief minister was flanked by former minister and MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy who owns a private resort built in the buffer zone of Himayat Sagar Lake. Several properties of political leaders have been demolished so far by the HYDRAA but a number of properties of ministers and other key Congress leaders are still standing.

The BRS alleged that the chief minister’s brother’s property encroached upon Durgam Cheruvu, the lake near the IT Hub at Hitec City. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the action of the HYDRAA. Some of the AIMIM leaders’ properties, including that of the Bahadurpura MLA, were also demolished by the HYDRAA.

“HYDRAA does not have legislative or legal backing… Earlier there was a waterfall where the GHMC office stands today. Necklace Road has been constructed on FTL, you demolish it,” said Owaisi.

Meanwhile, the common people are quite happy with the demolition. Several middle-class and economically backward neighbourhoods face flooding due to these encroachments. Members of the Gandipet Welfare Society took out a walk in support of the demolition drive by the HYDRAA near Osman Sagar Lake in Rajendranagar. Complaining that almost all the ponds have been encroached upon a member said it was not a matter of supporting a particular political party. “HYDRAA is doing a good work. We want to support it,” he added.