HYDRAA flags 49 land-grab complaints in single day, most over road and park encroachments
Hyderabad: A flood of encroachment complaints filed in a single day has thrown a spotlight on just how widespread land grabs have become across Hyderabad and its surrounding municipalities. From blocked access roads to hijacked park spaces and illegal structures over drainage channels, citizens are raising alarms over what they say are unchecked violations of public land.
On Monday, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) received 49 grievances during a public interaction drive — each pointing to systematic encroachment and growing frustration among residents.
In some cases, it’s barely 20 square yards — like in Gudimalkapur, where plots right outside busy vegetable markets have reportedly been seized. But the ripple effect is far larger. Residents in Gajularamaram, part of Medchal–Malkajgiri district, say a 30-foot-wide internal road inside the Siddhi Vinayaka Nagar layout has been taken over by plot owners, cutting off access to more than 100 other properties.
Similar scenes are playing out in Firjadiguda and Panchavati Colony near Medipally, where encroachments have made even routine movement a daily struggle. In Chengicherla, residents of Chinna Kranthi Colony allege that land grabbers are faking plot numbers to illegally occupy a 1,800-square-yard park area—land that’s officially designated as open space under Survey Nos. 114, 118, 120, and 121.
And it’s not just East Hyderabad. In Thumkunta’s Pothayapally village, residents say their road has been sealed off entirely, with walls erected by neighbouring plot holders, leaving families stranded without access to their own homes. In Kondapur’s Jubilee Garden Colony, public utility spaces tagged under Survey Nos. 29 and 30 have allegedly been swallowed up by private parties. Officials did tear down a wall there once, but new construction has crept back in — prompting residents to demand tougher, lasting action.
HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath personally reviewed several of the complaints and cross-checked ground conditions on Google Maps against official land records before handing cases off to zonal officers. One major red flag: stormwater drains. Many have been encroached upon, narrowing their flow and worsening drainage problems in already flood-prone areas.
పార్కులు.. రహదారుల కబ్జాలు
హైడ్రా ప్రజావాణికి 49 ఫిర్యాదులు🔶ఇంటి ఎదురుగా రోడ్డు ఉంటే కలిపేయడం.., పార్కు ఉంటే ఆక్రమించేయడం.. కాలువ పైనే నిర్మాణం చేసేయడం.. కబ్జాలకు ఏదీ అడ్డు రావడంలేదని పలు ఫిర్యాదులను బట్టి అర్థమౌతోంది. ఎదురుగా ఉన్న ప్లాట్కు దారి లేకుండా మరీ… pic.twitter.com/lDZcwKfXyx
— HYDRAA (@Comm_HYDRAA) July 7, 2025
Locals say the pattern is disturbingly consistent: parks, roads, corners of layouts, even drainage channels — nothing is safe. Often, these takeovers are backed by forged documents or go unchallenged due to silence or inaction from civic bodies.
“We’re losing public space piece by piece,” said one resident, “and nobody seems to be stopping it.”