Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday pulled up the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) for carrying out demolitions around Sunnam Cheruvu without following due process.
Hearing a petition filed by Maruthi Hills Colony Welfare Association president C.H. Sadanandam and seven others, Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy’s bench questioned how HYDRAA could declare structures illegal in Full Tank Level (FTL) areas without conducting a proper survey. The bench sharply asked whether HYDRAA thought it had powers above the law.
The court observed that major structures near Tank Bund, including the Secretariat, Buddha Bhavan, Necklace Road and Prasads IMAX, should also be verified for FTL and buffer zones. If demolition continued in this arbitrary way, “half of Hyderabad would become vacant,” it warned.
The bench faulted HYDRAA for acting unilaterally and demolishing structures near Sunnam Cheruvu without serving notices. Officials were reminded that the government had procedures to verify legality, and HYDRAA could not bypass them. The court directed that notices must first be served, evidence collected, and a proper survey completed, and only then could demolitions proceed if structures were indeed illegal.
It said ignoring these steps repeatedly was unacceptable and warned HYDRAA of severe consequences if its methods did not change, terming this the final warning.
On complaints of illegal borewells near Sunnam Cheruvu, the court noted HYDRAA had failed to prove how these were classified as illegal overnight and questioned how their water was found to be polluted without a survey. Judges criticised the agency for deploying heavy machinery without due verification, pointing out that borewells existed across Hyderabad and asking whether all of them had proper permissions.
Senior advocate M.V. Durga Prasad, appearing for petitioners, argued that no notices had been issued before demolitions. HYDRAA’s counsel countered that contaminated water from these borewells was being sold through tankers, and the State Pollution Control Board had flagged a public health risk.
After hearing both sides, the court ordered a halt to demolitions at Sunnam Cheruvu, granting a two-week interim stay, and instructed the government to complete a formal survey within ten days. Notices must be served to occupants of survey numbers 12 and 13 in Begumpet and 31 in Allapur before conducting the survey, the bench ordered.
The court clarified that once documents submitted by the petitioners were examined, if no dispute remained, HYDRAA could apply to resume restoration work at Sunnam Cheruvu. It also permitted the seizure of illegal borewell water tankers if proven.
Further hearing was posted to the 14th of this month. In the meantime, the High Court directed the state government and HYDRAA to file their counters.
