HYDRAA and the battle over Hyderabad’s lakes

Hyderabad’s residents confront familiar scenes each monsoon: submerged roads, waterlogged colonies, flooded flyovers, stranded vehicles, and rescue boats. The city once held over 3,000 lakes. Today, few pristine waterbodies remain. Studies trace their degradation to encroachment, sewage inflow, garbage dumping, pollution, and institutional apathy.

The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) has drawn both recognition and criticism. Established by a government order on July 19, 2024, HYDRAA was created as a dedicated agency to prepare for, prevent, and mitigate urban disasters—particularly flooding. Its mandate: reclaim and protect public assets, including lakes, parks, and nalas. The Congress government empowered HYDRAA to act where successive administrations had acknowledged that encroachments had compromised Hyderabad’s hydrological system.

Among its early actions, HYDRAA demolished properties owned by political leaders across party lines, including Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna’s N-Convention Centre in August 2024. These high-profile demolitions drew public applause. But when the agency razed residential structures without adequate notice, it encountered strong backlash.

The following months were marked by uncertainty and growing unease. Demolition videos streamed steadily from HYDRAA’s social media channels, fuelling concerns that “bulldozer politics” had arrived in Telangana. One year on, court interventions and public scrutiny have tempered the agency’s theatrics.

While HYDRAA has delivered results long deferred by existing departments, questions persist over due process, consistency, and transparency. To assess the agency’s record, Frontline spoke to the HYDRAA chief A.V. Ranganath, the lake activist Lubna Sarwat, the public policy expert Donthi Narasimha Reddy, and the urban designer and researcher Arshiya Syed.

HYDRAA’s genesis

Earlier, multiple departments shared responsibility for Hyderabad’s lakes: the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the revenue, irrigation, and fisheries departments, and the Pollution Control Board. A Lake Protection Committee formed in 2010 lacked statutory authority. Despite existing laws, poor coordination, political interference, and corruption steadily eroded lake systems.

A 2020 Comptroller and Auditor General report singled out the revenue department’s “inaction” for enabling ongoing encroachments. GHMC had spent less than 15 per cent of its lake budget between 2014 and 2018. The report cited institutional passivity as a recurring issue.

“Multiple departments worked in silos—revenue, town planning, irrigation, and police. When so many are responsible, nobody is,” Ranganath told Frontline. He acknowledged that corruption and ad hoc responses had compounded the crisis.

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The Telangana government initially considered restructuring the Enforcement, Vigilance, and Disaster Management (EVDM) wing under GHMC, which had a similar remit. “Under GHMC, we had too many constraints—an elected council, a commissioner. There was no operational independence,” Ranganath said.

When HYDRAA was created, this separation from GHMC meant the agency conducted demolitions without statutory authority for nearly three months. Multiple legal challenges followed. The government passed an ordinance in October 2024, granting HYDRAA formal powers.

Power consolidation

HYDRAA was endowed with powers drawn from GHMC, the irrigation and revenue departments, and other agencies. In May 2025, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy inaugurated a dedicated HYDRAA police station. The agency now operates across 2,000 square kilometres within the Outer Ring Road (ORR), covering Greater Hyderabad and surrounding municipalities.

Experts differ on this consolidation, but many agree it was aimed at bypassing entrenched bureaucracies. “At the time, existing departments had failed to protect public assets—some even aided their privatisation. A new body generated public trust,” Narasimha Reddy told Frontline.

The HYDRAA police station near Buddha Bhavan in Hyderabad on May 8, 2025. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy inaugurated the dedicated police station for the agency. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

HYDRAA retained EVDM’s staff and resources. Ranganath, formerly EVDM Commissioner, now heads HYDRAA. Of 169 sanctioned posts, 45 have been filled. Most of the 2,000-odd field positions are outsourced. Ranganath also chairs the Lake Protection Committee for the lakes within ORR, overseeing nearly 1,000 lakes. “There’s now job clarity and role clarity. Other departments can still protect lakes—but now, someone is directly responsible,” he said.

Lubna Sarwat, who has worked on lake protection for nearly two decades, disagrees. “HYDRAA’s creation is redundant and lacks clarity. This confusion is deliberate,” she said.

Hasty and arbitrary actions

Though HYDRAA insists it follows legal procedure, the Telangana High Court has repeatedly found otherwise. In January 2025, the court found inadequate evidence that structures demolished at Khajaguda Lake lay within the Full Tank Level (FTL) or its buffer zone. In February, it criticised the agency for issuing 24-hour notices and conducting weekend demolitions. In March, it censured HYDRAA for disproportionately targeting slums while ignoring violations in affluent areas.

On July 18, the High Court issued notices to HYDRAA and others in a contempt petition involving Sunnam Cheruvu. Despite prior court orders to first demarcate the lake’s FTL, a petitioner alleged HYDRAA demolished their house without due process.

While both the High Court and Supreme Court have affirmed that all lake and riverbed encroachments must be removed, the Telangana government and HYDRAA decided to spare structures built until July 2024. “Structures built until HYDRAA’s formation—especially residences, schools, and charitable trusts—are exempt. We only target unauthorised commercial encroachments,” Ranganath said. Fatima Owaisi College was one such beneficiary.

Sarwat raised concerns: “Poor people’s homes don’t get these exceptions. If there is a policy, it must be written law—not the personal discretion of officials.”

Transparency concerns

Activists and experts are increasingly calling for transparency about HYDRAA’s powers, priorities, and finances. “It has become a mini-government, functioning without procedures or transparency,” Narasimha Reddy said.

Ranganath told Frontline, “We’ve reclaimed over 500 acres of public land worth Rs.30,000–35,000 crore. We’ve acted against more than 600 unauthorised structures.” These include nalas, parks, government lands, and lakes. But no official documentation is publicly available. Sources estimate that roughly 150 acres of lake encroachments were cleared over the past year.

Public awareness, HYDRAA claims, is one of its achievements. Concepts such as “buffer zone” and “FTL” have entered the public vocabulary. Officials consider this a cultural shift. “There’s more due diligence now. HYDRAA has shifted how urban governance works,” said Ranganath.

But critics point out the silence on complicit officials. Many residents who received notices submitted proof of prior government approvals. “They promised action against corrupt officials—but nothing’s happened,” Reddy said. Both Reddy and Sarwat argue that deterrence requires accountability.

In 2024–25, HYDRAA received Rs.200 crore, with an initial disbursal of Rs.50 crore. In 2025–26, it received Rs.100 crore. The agency still lacks a website. Information is scattered across news reports, social media posts, and real estate forums. Experts have called for a live dashboard tracking lakes, FTL maps, encroachments, statutory powers, notices issued, and action taken.

Rejuvenation attempts

HYDRAA announced plans to restore six lakes: Bathukamma Kunta, Bum-Rukn-ud-Daula, Thammidi Kunta, Sunnam Cheruvu, and two Nalla Cheruvus. Project reports were reportedly prepared, but remain unavailable.

HYDRAA marked its anniversary with aerial images of Bathukamma Kunta, showcasing a walking track and newly laid slope. Recent rains filled the lake, drawing public praise. The project has become HYDRAA’s showpiece. Yet even supporters note the lake appears smaller than expected.

HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath in Hyderabad’s Old City area on May 18, 2025. Ranganath told Frontline that the agency had reclaimed over 500 acres of public land worth Rs.30,000–35,000 crore and acted against more than 600 unauthorised structures. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

Originally a 14-acre lake—with a protected zone of 17 acres—encroachments had reduced Bathukamma Kunta to a third of its size. “Twelve acres are bastis. Our aim was not to demolish homes built out of necessity,” said Ranganath. This reflects HYDRAA’s claimed policy of not demolishing pre-2024 residences. No such policy is publicly documented.

The restoration spans five acres, though that land was under litigation. A civil suit was dismissed in HYDRAA’s favour. A tender pegs project costs at Rs.7 crore. “It’s not restoration—it’s a pond. The FTL was already reduced. Now they’ve built a slope inside it. That’s not lake naturalisation,” Sarwat said. “Where are the drainage plans, budget details, and water-holding data?” she asked.

Can lakes be reset?

The scale of Hyderabad’s lake crisis defies any single solution. Many experts argue that the State lacks a scientific policy on lake protection, acting instead on complaints and emergencies. A government study between 2014 and 2023 found that 498 of 920 waterbodies within the Outer Ring Road had been encroached. Twenty lakes have been fully lost in the past decade.

The encroachments accelerated after bifurcation, driven by real estate and urbanisation. But lake degradation predates Telangana. A 2016 CSE report found that Hyderabad lost 3,245 hectares of waterbodies between 1989 and 2001. Data from the National Remote Sensing Centre shows a 60 per cent loss in lake area between 1979 and 2023. “This problem will keep resurfacing unless addressed systemically,” said Arshiya Syed.

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Can lakes be returned to their original expanse and FTLs? Experts argue that such efforts must consider the urban poor. One-size-fits-all clearance drives may not be feasible—or humane. The 2020 CAG report criticised both the Lake Protection Committee and the government for failing to involve the public. Experts warn against top-down technocratic approaches. “We need local mobilisation—ward-level plans, community engagement, grievance redressal, and government support for rehabilitation,” said Arshiya.

Encroachment is only one part of the crisis. Hyderabad’s waterbodies also suffer from poor sewage and solid waste management. Rainwater harvesting is missing in nearly half the city’s buildings. Current planning is geared towards draining roads—channelling rainwater to lakes, then to the Musi River.

“It’s always about getting water ‘out of the way.’ But we can’t adapt water to urbanism. We must adapt urbanism to water. Without systemic change, we’re only buying time,” Arshiya warned.