Hyderabad: Activists, who visited the Janwada farmhouse, have wondered why BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had leased a property reportedly located within the Full Tank Level (FTL) of the Osmansagar reservoir, especially when he himself was the municipal minister.
They also criticised a petition filed by a city-based realtor Pradeep Reddy in the High Court, in which he claims ownership of the property in Mirzaguda, Shankarpally Road (Janwada).
The activists said that instead of providing precise geo-coordinates to support his claim that the property is not in the FTL, the realtor has cast aspersions on the state government and its departments, playing the victim card.
"BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao now claims that if the structure is in the FTL, he will cooperate with the authorities in demolishing it. The irony is, why did he lease it in the first place, especially when he was the MA&UD minister?" questioned Dr. Lubna Sarwath, an activist who has been advocating for the protection of the city's water bodies for years.
Dr Sarwath, holding a map of the water body, added that when she filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against encroachments in the FTL of the twin reservoirs, Rama Rao could have reviewed the lease documents and FTL markings at that time.
She also asserted that the details mentioned in Pradeep Reddy's affidavit presented to the court are misleading, accusing the encroachers of altering the nature of the water body.
"In the petitions and documents submitted to the court, he referred to Osmansagar as a lake when it is actually a reservoir. It is an attempt to secure a relaxation in the radius of the FTL and buffer zone," Dr. Sarwath said.
Another environmentalist echoed similar concerns. "The government has made a good decision by establishing the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA). If just one acre of lake land is saved, it conserves four million litres of water," said B.V. Subba Rao, an environmentalist.
A resident of Mirzaguda, accompanied by his relative from Janwada village, pointed out that the Shankarpally Road has created misconceptions about Osmansagar's borders and the encroachments that have emerged within its FTL and buffer zones.
"Due to the Shankarpally Road, people perceive that only the structures on the left side (when heading towards Janwada village) are illegal because the reservoir water is visible there. However, this road actually runs through the lake area, and the concrete buildings on the right side are also unauthorised," said the senior citizen.
