Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has questioned the powers of HYDRA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection) and has temporarily stopped the demolition of a farmhouse in Janwada. The farmhouse is located within the buffer zone or full tank level (FTL) of the Osmansagar reservoir.
The farmhouse is in Rangareddy district and has been a subject of political debates for a long time. It is alleged to be owned by KT Rama Rao (KTR), the working president of BRS, but he has denied these claims. The actual owner, Pradeep Reddy Badvelu, went to court to prevent officials from demolishing his property, which is built on 1,210 square yards of land. He argued that people are wrongly linking him to KTR for political reasons.
Pradeep Reddy stated, “People are trying to take over my property by claiming it falls under the FTL of Osmansagar. This could be done with political motives.”
For several years, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has claimed that the farmhouse belongs to KTR. As an MP, he even filed a case with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and faced legal trouble for using a drone to take photos of the property when BRS was in power.
Justice K. Lakshman, who is hearing the case, questioned HYDRA’s authority and asked if they had issued any official notices about the buffer zone or FTL of Osmansagar. He criticized the state for not clearly defining these zones and allowing people to buy and build on such lands. The judge stated, “Why only punish the buyers? First punish all officials who allowed this to happen.”
The judge also mentioned that he might call the head of HYDRA to court to explain their actions. The court found out that the local sarpanch gave building permission for the farmhouse on September 12, 2014, which the judge considered improper because a sarpanch does not have the authority to grant such permission.
Justice Lakshman has asked for more information about other buildings identified by HYDRA and the actions taken against them. The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 12, waiting for more details on HYDRA’s actions and the rules about the FTL of Osmansagar.
