Decode Politics: What is Hydra, agency behind demolition at actor Nagarjuna’s convention centre

The move has brought the spotlight on Hydra, a body that has been under the radar of the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that has accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of political vendetta.

What is Hydra?

In July, Reddy replaced the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) wing of the government with Hydra, a body mandated to tackle illegal encroachment on water bodies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits and surrounding areas.

Its strength was upgraded from around 800 to 2,200 and its officials came directly under the principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development or the CM himself.

“Hydra’s primary focus will be on tackling the challenges faced by Hyderabad, especially eliminating encroachments and illegal constructions. It will also ensure the protection of water bodies in and around Hyderabad,” former EVDM commissioner and Hydra chief A V Ranganath said during its inception.

Claiming that the demolition was carried out “wrongfully based on misinformation”, Nagarjuna said if the court had decided against him then he would have carried out the demolition himself. (Express)

What action has Hydra taken so far?

According to government data accessed by The Indian Express, Hydra has acted upon 166 encroachments and recovered 43.54 acres of land since its inception.

The most number of encroachments – 54 – were located on the banks of the Chintal cheruvu (lake) in Gajularamaram area followed by 45 in Bhumruq Dowla Lake in Rajendra Nagar. The Gandipet lake, which is one of the primary water sources of drinking water for Hyderabad, had 24 encroachments – 14 in the Khanapur area and 10 in the Chilkur area.

Most of the encroachments are buildings with unsanctioned floors and structures having asbestos sheets while a few of them are temporary structures which have encroached into the buffer zone of Nalas.

Interestingly, Hydra has also listed reasons why the encroachments took place. According to the Hydra, local BRS leader R Sai Raju had encroached the Chintal cheruvu in Gajularamaram area while MLA Danam Nagender, who has switched over to the Congress, is supporting encroachers in Nandagiri Hills. The body also claims to have demolished illegal structures owned by AIMIM Bahadurpura MLA Mohammad Mubeen and MLC Mirza Rahmat Baig in Rajendra Nagar.

Why has Hydra run into controversy?

Much before Nagarjuna’s property was razed, the body came into the spotlight after the government issued an order to demolish a property in Janwada in Shankarpally mandal of Ranga Reddy district.

The property was declared in former minister and BRS working president K T Rama Rao’s election affidavit as belonging to his spouse. However, the former minister claimed it was taken on lease from a friend, Pratap Kumar Badvelu, who approached the Telangana High Court seeking a stay on the demolition.

“The farmhouse belongs to my friend. I took it on lease eight months ago. If it is in the Full Tank Level (FTL) or buffer zone, I will accompany you to demolish it. I welcome demolishing it,” the BRS working president said.

The High Court on August 21 observed that the Hydra needs to follow due procedure before demolishing structures and ordered a status quo on the matter. The next hearing is scheduled for September 12.

Incidentally, in 2020, Reddy was arrested by the then BRS government for flying a drone and taking images of the Janwada property.

What does the BRS allege?

The BRS has alleged that the Congress government is using Hydra to target the properties of political opponents while ignoring the “encroached” properties of their leaders.

“I hope HYDRA hasn’t forgotten about the farmhouse owned by Congress leader and former MP KVP (Ramachandra Rao) in the buffer zone. What about the farmhouse belonging to Congress leader and Legislative Council chairman (Gutha Sukhender Reddy)?” party spokesperson Krishank Manne said on X.

Another BRS leader, on the condition of anonymity, said that Reddy was using Hydra as a tool to settle scores for his arrest. “Everybody is aware that since Revanth Reddy came to power, his single point agenda has been to avenge his 2020 arrest. He will stoop to any level to get K Chandrashekar Rao and Rama Rao behind bars,” the leader said.

BRS spokesperson Dasoju Srravan hit out at the Telangana government over the move saying ideally GHMC departments must work in tandem to protect water bodies..

“The constitution of Hydra is however not wrong but in its current form it is just theatrics. The government should have undertaken a survey of water bodies across GHMC limits and the state, and then spell out its action plan in the public domain. Nothing of that sort has been done. To what extent water bodies can be protected and which ones must have been incorporated in the planning stage itself. Hydra is being used to divert public attention and target political opponents,” he said.

What has the Congress said?

The party claims it is just doing what the previous governments did not and that Hydra was constituted after the city experienced heavy water logging during the recent Monsoon.

“The concept of protecting lakes from encroachments is not new. During the BRS’s regime, it was done through the EVDM and now it is the mandate of Hydra. Why is the BRS making a fuss about it?” said former Telangana Congress spokesperson Vignesh.

Dismissing allegations that only properties of BRS leaders were being targeted, he pointed out that the Hydra had demolished the property of former Union Minister M M Pallam Raju of the Congress as well. “There is no vendetta as claimed by KTR. He is denying ownership of the Janwada property now but has listed it in his election affidavit. The government is just doing its duty. Is Nagarjuna a BRS leader?” he asked.