Hyderabad, Oct 5 || Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma on Saturday issued an ordinance, empowering the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA), to exercise the powers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to protect the assets of the civic body and the government.
Governor Varma has issued the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024.
The ordinance inserted new section (374-B) in GHMC Act, 1955, to empower any officer or agency of authority to exercise any of the powers of the civic body and the Commissioner vested in them to protect public assets like roads, drains, public streets, water bodies, open spaces, public parks, etc.
HYDRAA, created recently by the state government, has been carrying out demolitions to reclaim the encroached land of lakes, parks, and roads.
However, HYDRAA's actions had come under criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties, which questioned its legal status.
The agency had carried out demolitions without issuing notices as it lacked the power to issue them.
HYDRAA Commissioner A. V. Ranganath had said last month that the agency does not issue notices to the violators but will function through notices served by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to associated departments such as Irrigation, Revenue, and urban local bodies.
Ranganath, an Indian Police Service officer, compared the agency to task force, Greyhounds, and such groups, that support the police.