The number of instances involving reclamation of open sites in various colonies in the city by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) reflects the sad reality of greenery development which is crucial in reducing the impact of climate change in heat island effect in the city.
As per the data available up to March 31, HYDRAA, in less than two years’ time since its formation, reclaimed a total of 99 park lands across the four districts that constitute the State capital. The total extent of such secured land is 69 acres.
Serilingampally mandal takes the cake with 16 such locations where 25 encroachments were removed, resulting in recovery of 13.21 acres of land. In terms of extent, Ghatkesar leads, with 21 acres of land secured at six locations, after removal of 11 encroachments in total. Overall, 123 encroachments were removed. When it comes to layout open spaces, close to 20 acres were recovered at 24 locations.
The operations were carried out in 30 mandals with regard to park sites, and 15 mandals with regard to layout open spaces.
In authorised layouts, it is mandatory to leave 10% of the total extent for open spaces where tot-lots or parks may be developed. However, officials say that open spaces are encroached mostly in unauthorised layouts. Though initially, a few plots are shown for parks, after the layout is completed, the developers try to sell the allotted open space too, resulting in long winding legal battles, officials say.
