Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Tuesday defended the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation (HILT) policy, saying it is aimed at reducing pollution in the state capital and protecting it from environmental crisis by shifting polluting industries out of the city.
Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu told the Assembly that the government headed by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has taken the historic initiative to ensure a clean and sustainable future for the coming generations.
Referring to the allegations by the opposition parties, he said some people were deliberately attacking the government and claiming a hidden agenda in this policy.
“Many are seeing this as merely a simple land transformation. They are looking at this only from the perspective of revenue records, saying land use is changing, an industrial area is turning into a residential area, but through this Assembly, I want to clarify that it is not merely a change of land use. This is a healthy foundation that our government is laying for our children and future generations,” he said.
Sridhar Babu said that it is the responsibility of the present generation to protect natural resources and ensure their survival for the future. “Our intention is not just to make changes and additions to the revenue records through this policy. Our resolve is to shift the industries beyond the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and provide our children and future generations with clean air to breathe and clean water to drink,” he said.
The minister recalled that Hyderabad’s industrial journey began in the 1970s with the arrival of IDPL. At that time, areas like Balanagar, Sanathnagar, Uppal, Jeedimetla, and Cherlapally were designated as exclusive industrial zones.
Back then, these areas were on the outskirts of the city, kilometres away from residential areas, and, at that time, the presence of industries there did not pose any threat to public health.
“In the last 50 years, the city of Hyderabad expanded in ways we couldn’t have imagined, becoming a metropolis on the world map. These industrial areas, which were once on the outskirts, have now become the central business districts of the city. They are residential colonies where lakhs of families live,” he said.
The minister pointed out that today an apartment building stands right next to the factory wall. The toxic smoke from the chimney, instead of dissipating into the air, is entering directly into the bedrooms.
On one side, there are residential buildings, and on the other, industries. The ‘buffer zone’ between the two has completely disappeared. He said this was not merely a planning flaw, but a blatant invitation to a major disaster.
The short discussion on HILT policy took place in the absence of the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which is boycotting the session.
The BRS had alleged that in the name of HILT, the Congress government is selling away 9,300 acres of industrial land worth almost Rs 5 lakh crore.
BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao claimed that the lands that were once given by the government to industries to create jobs for people are now being given to private individuals. The government is giving industrial lands to build apartments, villas and commercial complexes as it does not want industries, he alleged.
