Residents protest Musi riverfront demolition, demand compensation

CPI(M) activists protesting against the Musi River Development Project at Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

The people residing along the Musi river area of Hyderabad staged a protest in Bahadurpura and at Telangana Bhavan to voice their concerns against the ongoing demolition drive linked to the Musi riverfront beautification project. Families from various affected areas began assembling as early as 7 a.m., seeking support from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders to save their homes.

A large number of public gathered at Bahadurpura flyover at around 11.30 a.m. and staged a sit-in protest raising slogans against Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and the ruling Congress party. 

Officials from South Zone of Hyderabad said that they routed staffers from the law and order zones to control the crowd. The representatives from the group were taken to the Bahadurpura MRO’s office by the police. 

Residents demanded that they need to be compensated for paying land registration fee, electricity and other bills in so-called ‘encroached lands’. “How can the government mark places to demolish without any notice to the residents? If you want to demolish such encroached areas, what are we paying taxes, registration, electricity bill and other amenities for? The money allotted can be used to clean up the river instead of demolishing houses of so many families,” said one of the protesters. 

Meanwhile, Bahadurpura MRO Chandrashekar stated that a section of the residents had expressed their willingness to relocate if the government offered them 2BHK housing. “We spoke to the representatives individually and told them that we have only marked the places and are not going to immediately demolish them. We also learnt that their woes and requests vary from area to area. While some are willing to vacate and move to 2BHK houses, others who are residing in three-storeyed buildings are demanding a three portion space to accommodate their families. Others also claim that they must be compensated to relocate elsewhere,” said the MRO. 

Meanwhile, a group of protesters also gathered at Telangana Bhavan on Saturday morning. About 60-odd police officers from Central Zone police were deployed as bandobast. No preventive arrests were made by the police on Saturday.