RR: Govt stands firmly behind HYDRAA

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said on Tuesday that the state government stands firmly behind the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA).

A day after the Telangana High Court directed the Chief Secretary to immediately replace HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath for repeatedly flouting court orders, the Chief Minister told reporters in New Delhi that he had not yet examined the court order in detail.

Stating that the government will review the order, Revanth Reddy made it clear that the government has the highest respect for the judiciary.

He termed HYDRAA as the greatest reform by his government and stated that the agency will be strengthened further.

Revanth Reddy alleged that some people were making false propaganda against HYDRAA. He said encroachers had filed false cases against the agency and produced fake documents to mislead the court.

He made it clear that HYDRAA will continue its duty to remove encroachments on water bodies and government lands.

On Monday, the High Court asked Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju to identify a suitable officer to replace Ranganath as the head of HYDRAA.

The direction was given in a contempt case relating to a 40-acre parcel of land at Lothkunta involving a private construction company.

The single-judge bench noted that as many as 63 contempt cases were reportedly pending against the HYDRAA Commissioner during his one-and-a-half-year tenure.

A private construction company had filed the contempt case relating to the land at Lothkunta, accusing HYDRAA officials of entering the property and fencing it despite subsisting judicial restraint orders.

The High Court had ordered Ranganath to tender an apology through a written affidavit by Monday.

Ranganath, an Indian Police Service (IPS) official, has been heading HYDRAA since the agency was formed two years ago by the state government.

During the last two years, HYDRAA claims to have saved 3,315 acres of government land worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore and restored several water bodies.

The agency said it reclaimed and protected lakes, nalas, parks, government lands, and blue-green resources.

Following the court order, Ranganath listed the works undertaken by HYDRAA during the last two years. He remarked that contempt petitions were filed against him by land grabbers.