Hyderabad, Aug 30: Will educational institutions built by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi in Bandlaguda area will be demolished by civic authorities? This question is currently being debated in political circles after allegations that these institutions were built by occupying a lake’s territory.
With the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) demolishing alleged illegal structures belonging to some politicians, and issuing notices to some others to reclaim the land of lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and other water bodies in and around Hyderabad, a college and a school built by Akbaruddin Owaisi in Bandlaguda have come under the scanner.
The Fathima Owaisi Women’s College, and the Owaisi School of Excellence are run by the Salar-e-Millat Educational Trust, which is founded by Akbaruddon Owaisi.
“Please attack me again with swords and guns, but do not destroy the good work being done by me,” said the AIMIM MLA while reacting to reports that the authorities are planning to demolish the school and college buildings.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 with critical injuries, made the emotive appeal. He also stated he would not show his back to enemies.
Stating that the school and college are offering education to lakhs of underprivileged students, the MLA from Chandrayangutta appealed to authorities not to destroy their future.
A few days ago, some officials visited the school and college constructed on the land of Surram Cheruvu lake.
Environment activists point out that Google Earth satellite images from 2012-14 show the lake free of encroachments, but by October 2015 it was filled up and a residential colony came up on it.
According to activist Lubna Sarwath, encroachments on lake and its channels led to flooding of several residential areas surrounding it.
Akbaruddin Owaisi is not the only politician whose educational institutions are under scrutiny for alleged encroachments.
Authorities have issued notices to colleges owned by opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Marri Rajasekhar Reddy.
MLR Institute of Technology (MLRIT) and Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in Dundigal in Medchal Malkajgiri district on the outskirts of Hyderabad have been built illegally in the Full Tank Level (FTL) and Buffer Zone of Chinna Damaracheruvu Lake.
The two colleges are part of the chain of educational institutions run by the family of BRS leader and MLA Malla Reddy. The former minister is father-in-law of Rajasekhar Reddy.
Recently, a police case was registered against BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy for allegedly building Anurag University in the buffer zone of a water body at Venkatapuram, Medchal-Malkajgiri district.
It was alleged the Anurag Group of Institutions, under Gayatri Educational Trust, trespassed and constructed a college building, damaging Nadam Cheruvu, a restored tank in the buffer zone.
The BJP has questioned the Congress government over the delay in demolishing Akbaruddin Owaisi’s educational institutions. Its leaders asked Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy why bulldozers are not being used in the old city.
A few corporators of BJP met HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath, seeking action against Akbaruddin Owaisi’s institutions. The IPS officer said if the colleges were demolished in the middle of the academic year, the students would suffer.
HYDRAA has received several requests from parents to spare educational institutions from demolition drive as the academic year was in progress. Ranganath confirmed that several parents have approached and requested him to postpone demolition until the end of the academic year.
Amid the row, the Chief Minister has made it clear that encroachments on water bodies in the name of educational institutions would not be tolerated. HYDRAA, constituted recently by the state government, has so far reclaimed about 50 acres of land by demolishing illegal structures on lakes, including the N-Convention Centre of actor Nagarjuna, buildings owned by AIMIM MLA Mohammed Mubeen and MLC Mirza Rahmat Baig on heritage lake Bum-Rukn-Ud-Dowla and the properties of some others including former union minister and Congress leader Pallam Raju’s brother Pallam Anand.
As the opposition trained guns on the Chief Minister over alleged encroachments by his own family members, he announced that he would not spare encroachments even if his family members are involved. A day after his statement, authorities issued notice to his brother A. Tirupathi Reddy as his house is in the FTL of Durgam Cheruvu Lake in Hyderabad’s HITEC City. More than 200 residents of various residential areas around the lake have been issued notices.
