“Yet, the State government has not included this industrial corridor under HILT, only because land prices there are still low”: BJP floor leader A. Maheshwar Reddy
HYDERABAD: The BJP questioned the state government’s intentions behind shifting industries from 22 industrial corridors under the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation (HILT) Policy, alleging that highly polluting units were being spared while several non‑polluting ones were being forced to move.
Participating in a debate on the HILT policy in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, BJP floor leader A. Maheshwar Reddy said the policy would prove a bane, not a boon, for industry, as many units would be forced to close and entrepreneurs would be reluctant to relocate due to higher operational costs at new locations.
He pointed out that the Union ministry of health had identified highly polluting industries spread over 925 acres in the IDA, Bolaram, which houses around 100 Red Zone units. “Yet, the State government has not included this industrial corridor under HILT, only because land prices there are still low,” he alleged.
“If the government’s stated intention is to create lung spaces, improve air quality and reduce pollution in these 22 corridors, why is it permitting residential apartments, school and college zones on these very polluted land,” Maheshwar Reddy asked, questioning why the government had not clearly specified alternative land parcels for relocating the affected industries.
Alleging that the HILT policy had been drafted to benefit the real estate lobby, he sought to know why the State had failed to identify and allot alternate land for Pharma City after taking it away from Mucherla and proposing a ‘Future City’ there.
Accusing the Congress government of following the path of the previous BRS regime, Maheshwar Reddy cited information obtained under the Right to Information Act to claim that the present government had placed only 3,290 Government Orders (GOs) in the public domain out of 19,064 issued in its nearly two-year tenure. He added that the BRS government, during its 10-year rule, had kept 43,462 GOs out of public view.
Referring to the controversy over the HILT policy draft, he said the government was “forced to order an inquiry” after the policy was leaked while it was still being withheld from the public. He added that the High Court, too, had raised several questions on the policy, including where the State proposed to relocate industries.
Maheshwar Reddy sought to know whether the government had conducted any impact assessment on shifting industries and, if so, why the report had not been made public. He also asked the government to disclose how many units in the 22 industrial corridors fall under the Red, Orange and Green categories.
Claiming that the government’s “real estate interests” stood exposed when it sought to take over land belonging to the University of Hyderabad (HCU), he said just as the Centre had earlier blocked such attempts, the people of Telangana would not allow the State to go ahead with shifting all industries under the HILT policy.
