Telangana: Etala Rajendar hits out at CM KCR on GO 111

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is fully aware of the impact of removing GO 111 and the utter ecological and environmental disaster it will result in for Hyderabad and “despite this knowledge, he decided to put the entire city into jeopardy just to make money to fund his election campaign,” senior BJP leader and Huzurabad MLA Etala Rajendar has said.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Rajender said the government says Osmansagar and Himayatsagar are no longer required as drinking water sources for Hyderabad and that drinking water is being brought from Krishna and Godavari. “The Chief Minister has a full understanding that the two lakes play a vital role in flood control in the city and how concretisation around them will cause an ecological and environmental disaster. The lakes also play a role in climate control of the region and the CM is intent on destroying this,” Rajendar said.

Under the guise of cancellation of the GO, BRS leaders will earn thousands of crores of rupees through real estate deals. Most of the 1.32 lakh acres that fall under the GO 111 protection in 84 villages around the lakes are no longer owned by farmers. The real estate mafia will turn the entire area into a concrete jungle. People must understand that the CM wants to make money from them, using the land so he can fund his election campaign in Telangana, and in other states. He is not concerned about the future of the city but only in his political future,” Rajendar said.

He also said the government has much to answer for with respect to the Dharani land registration portal.

“The Vikarbad district collector has said that it will take at least two years to set right the land records in Dharani. This is in a small district. There are some 18 lakh applications pending because of the way Dharani is run. Land ownership gets changed without the knowledge of the real owners and this is just one among the many problems”, Rajendar said.