Temple, Chilla Relocation: HYDRAA Faces Backlash

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and SIET Maruti Hills Colony plot owners are at loggerheads over the ongoing rejuvenation works at Sunnam Cheruvu in Madhapur.

The lake restoration project, which began in September of 2024 after HYDRAA demolished an illegal building at the site, has now turned into a conflict over land ownership and the future of a local temple.

Owners of the SIET layout alleged that HYDRAA workers have been entering their plots and carrying out excavation work on land that is protected by a status quo order from the High Court. Speaking with Deccan Chronicle, they said that HYDRAA is violating the court’s directions and is digging beyond the lake area into their land.

Speaking against their claims, HYDRAA informed the High Court that they are not undertaking the rejuvenation works on the SIET lands and said that they are willing to file an affidavit to that effect.

SIET plot owners also said that a Hanuman temple in the land was under the threat of demolition and claimed that HYDRAA was removing the temple for the restoration of the lake.

On Saturday, HYDRAA officials held a meeting with local residents living around Sunnam Cheruvu about the relocation of the Hanuman temple and a Muslim prayer shrine.

HYDRAA stated that the locals who attended the meeting agreed to relocate the temple and the prayer shrine behind the hill of Sunnam Cheruvu so that the rejuvenation works could continue without obstruction.

However, SIET Maruti Hills Colony plot owners say they were not invited to the meeting and argue that HYDRAA was misleading the public. They claim that the agency wrongly suggested that SIET residents were part of the discussions and had agreed to the temple relocation.

HYDRAA commissioner A. V. Ranganath denied these allegations and said that the agency never mentioned SIET in the press note. “They are only plot holders, they are not residents”, he said.

“They (SIET plot owners) were not even called for the meeting as they are not local residents, but are only vacant plot owners. We discussed with the local residents from Hindu and Muslim community and as per the agreed terms, decided to shift the temple and chilla”, he said.

SIET plot owners, however, said that HYDRAA was purposefully misleading the public. “They called the residents living on the Allapur side, who have no connection whatsoever to the temple. The temple is on our land…how can they not call us?”