Hyderabad: Relocation of Families from Musi Riverbed Faces Challenges
A total of 202 families from the areas of Malakpet and Chaderghat, located along the Musi Riverbed, are being moved to a 2BHK housing society in Chanchalguda. Despite being relocated, these families are still facing difficulties. Meanwhile, other affected families continue to protest, demanding land-to-land compensation instead of flats.
The government has been relocating families from Chaderghat, Musa Nagar, Shankar Nagar, and Vinayak Vidhi as part of the Musi River Rehabilitation project. Starting last Friday, officials began handing over the flats. By Monday, 202 families had received keys to their new homes in the 2BHK housing society.
However, the relocated families are worried about their safety. For the past two days, they have been targeted by people who were beneficiaries of the 2BHK program under the previous BRS government. According to sources, these earlier beneficiaries confronted the Musi project-affected families, leading to tensions.
Syed Bilal, a resident, explained that some families agreed to the relocation in exchange for the 2BHK flats, believing they would have secure housing. However, these families are now being harassed, and they feel unsafe. “The officials are taking away our homes and giving us 2BHK papers, but the flats are already occupied,” he said. He also questioned how long the authorities would keep police around to maintain order.
In addition to the relocation issues, other families affected by the Musi River project have continued to protest. They accuse the government of unfairly taking their homes. Some of these families, who lived on small plots of land measuring 30 to 35 square yards, have been called “encroachers.” However, the families claim they have valid documents and had taken loans from national banks like SBI and LIC to build their homes. “Please don’t call us encroachers,” they pleaded. “We had our documents verified, and now our homes are demolished.”
On Monday, hundreds of families gathered in front of the Hyderabad Collector’s office in Lakdikapul to protest. They sat in front of the gates, holding placards and expressing their anger at the government. The protestors demanded that the State government reconsider its plans and treat them fairly.
One of the protestors, Srinath from Langer Houz, said, “Nobody has the right to remove us from our homes. We are not encroachers. We don’t want 2BHK flats—they are of no use to us.”
To prevent the protest from escalating, a heavy police force was stationed at the Hyderabad Collector’s office.
