Will crush lake encroachments with iron hand: Telangana CM

A day after authorities demolished a convention centre here co-owned by actor Nagarjuna, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said his government would not spare those who encroached upon lakes and also crack down on such activities even if they are influential in the society.

Speaking at a function by the Hare Krishna Movement, Reddy said he would follow the preaching of Lord Krishna which proclaims that for the good of the people, one should follow Dharma in order to defeat Adharma through a fight. Officials of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), GHMC, Town planning, irrigation and revenue departments on Saturday removed encroachments in the Full Tank Level of the / Buffer zones of Tammidikunta lake and amongst the many structures removed, N- Convention co-owned by Nagarjuna was also one of the unauthorised structures.

The N-Convention is built in the FTL / Buffer zone and has no building permission whatsoever, a government release said. "That is the reason despite pressures, though ( some of our) friends have farmhouses, the HYDRAA was created ( for protecting lakes and government properties). I want to do some good to the people as part of that. The sole objective is to liberate these lakes from the encroachers. We will crush encroachments with an iron hand. Though there are pressures, we will not go back and we will remove those encroachments," the CM asserted.


Lakes are part of Indian culture and people depend on them for livelihood. He also said some of the farmhouses built near lakes release sewer into drinking water bodies such as Gandipet which supply drinking water to parts of the city. He further said he will not be a true public representative if he failed to protect the lakes and interests of people. The city's chain of lakes were designed by the erstwhile Nizam administration after a great deluge in 1908 with the help of famous engineer Mokshagundam Vishvesvaraya.