HYDRA reclaims 200 acres of land, says Commissioner

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA) announced its achievements for 2024. It addressed 5,800 public complaints and planned significant initiatives for the coming year.  HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath, while releasing a report on its annual achievements, said that demarcation of full tank level (FTL) of various lakes would be completed within four to five months under its its jurisdiction and their goals include creating a technical wing for weather monitoring, launching an FM channel for public alerts about lake buffer zones and encroachments.  HYDRAA Police Station, to be ready in a month or two, will investigate the encroachment cases and work like a regular police station in filing FIRs, make arrests.  Speaking to the media, Ranganath said, “We are making sure that we respond to all the complaints but priority is being given to the public such as the community, welfare organisations who are coming with evidence of encroachments. There are many pending complaints and we are going one by one because every complaint is taking us some time to investigate, then give notices and demolish.”
These thousands of complaints were concerning lake encroachments, illegal structures, and shrinking water bodies by analyzing cadastral maps, satellite images, and aerial surveys.  The authority also reclaimed over 200 acres of land from encroachments, focusing on eight parks, 12 lakes, and four government plots.   Proposals for rejuvenating 12 lakes, including Sunnam Cheruvu (Guttalabegumpet) and Errakunta (Tarnaka), have been submitted for government approval. HYDRAA plans to use advanced surveys, such as digital elevation models and drone imaging for demarcation of full tank level. HYDRAA’s Disaster Response Force (DRF) responded to 4,684 incidents this year, including tree falls (3,428), water stagnation (912), rescue calls (199), and fire accidents (133). The force will expand from 30 to 72 teams in January 2025 to cover the Outer Ring Road region, said Ranganath. The authority plans to employ geofencing, satellite monitoring, and CCTV surveillance to detect illegal dumping and encroachments. Proposals to establish additional weather radars and automatic weather stations aim to improve disaster readiness and weather forecasting.