Hyderabad: Khajaguda residents are up in arms against the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA), accusing it of maintaining double standards in demolition drives.
They argued that the agency demolished their modest sheds and structures in the Bhagirathamma lake and Thoutani kunta’s Full Tank Level (FTL) zone with undue haste, while not touching a wine shop in the same area.
The agency commissioner A. V. Ranganath claimed that the wine shop was spared because it was a “government-licensed premises” and they had asked the excise department to relocate it within a few days.
Ironically, HYDRAA demolished licensed businesses at Kukatpally’s Nalla cheruvu on September 22, where over 20 licensed establishments were razed, contradicting the commissioner’s recent statement. They also demolished a wine shop at Ramnagar on August 30 for encroaching a drainage line.
“This excuse is absurd. Authorities did not give permission to run the wine shop on the FTL of the lake, they gave it to run a business. They can’t use that reason for not demolishing it, while they can remove our sheds”, said Ramesh, a resident whose shed was fully razed.
He added, “If HYDRAA cannot demolish, and seeks the excise department’s intervention, why can’t they do the same to us? They demolished all those structures at Kukatpally back then, many of them carrying licenses and permissions. It’s clear they are protecting the wine shop but are leaving us poor people in vulnerable situations”, said another resident, whose shed was also torn down.
According to locals, HYDRAA issued notices at 4 pm on December 30 informing them that their structures were encroaching on the lake’s FTL and ordered them to vacate within 24 hours. However, HYDRAA officials arrived at the site at 8 am the following morning and began demolishing their sheds, less than 16 hours after the notices were given.
The demolished structures belonged to small businesses such as mechanic shops.
Bunny, another resident whose shed was razed, said “HYDRAA gave us no time to clear our belongings or find alternative spaces. By morning, everything we had worked for was gone. But look at the wine shop right next to us; it is still standing. Why should they be so biased?”
Another victim Sunita said “We stay here and run small businesses to feed our families. Their actions show that they don’t care about poor people. They came down on us with all their might, but the rich go scot free.”
