Minister defends the policy, slams BRS for misinformation

In a fervent speech during the Telangana Legislative Assembly debate on the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation (HILT) policy, IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu underscored its role as a pivotal environmental safeguard for Hyderabad's future. Under Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's leadership, the policy aims to relocate polluting industries beyond the Outer Ring Road (ORR), ensuring clean air and water for generations to come. "We live in an information revolution, boasting technological leaps, yet we're an incompetent civilisation failing to provide basics like pure air and water," the Minister lamented, criticising unchecked ecological destruction in the name of development.

Invoking ancestral legacies of pristine environments, Sridhar Babu questioned the value of wealth if it poisons the air children breathe or the water they drink. "We're trustees of this earth, obligated to pass on a clean environment—not as charity, but duty. Without it, we're condemning future generations to an ecological desert," he warned. He highlighted Hyderabad's unchecked urban sprawl over 50 years, turning once-peripheral industrial zones like Balanagar, Sanathnagar, Uppal, Jeedimetla, and Cherlapally into residential hubs, erasing buffer zones and exposing families to toxic fumes and groundwater contaminated with heavy metals—levels exceeding safe limits by 1000%. Citing global tragedies like Bhopal's gas leak, Vizag's LG Polymers incident, and Japan's Minamata disaster, he stressed the risk of neurological disorders and genetic mutations.

Drawing inspiration from London's post-1952 Great Smog Clean Air Act, which relocated industries and revitalised the Thames, and China's Blue Sky Protection Plan that slashed urban pollution by 30-40% in five years, the Minister positioned HILT as a "healthy foundation" for sustainable growth. Explaining "negative externalities," he noted how industrial profits burden public health costs, urging businesses: "Earn profits, expand, but prioritise people's well-being—they're your consumers." The government pledges full support for relocation, including facilities beyond ORR, with open dialogues to address concerns.

Sridhar Babu launched a scathing attack on the opposition, particularly the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), for deliberately misleading the public. "Some are spreading falsehoods, alleging ulterior motives in HILT," he said, refuting claims of undervalued land sales. He accused BRS of hypocrisy, pointing to their 2013 mandate—issued under the previous Congress regime—to relocate red and orange category industries, which they ignored during their tenure, opting for "mere lip service." Further, he exposed BRS's controversial Government Orders: GO 19 (August 29, 2023), granting freehold rights to private entities on 99-year lease lands, and GO MS 16 (December 10, 2020) under the 'GRID' policy, facilitating government land transfers to private hands. "What was the motive behind these? Why the silence now?" he demanded, implying favouritism.

He also questioned BJP leaders' complicity, asking why they remained mute during BRS's actions, hinting at a "dostana" (alliance) between the parties. Despite BRS's field visits to industrial areas, where owners supported HILT as per their requests, the opposition persists with "baseless propaganda." Clarifying transparency, Sridhar Babu emphasised that HILT applies to privately owned lands with full owner rights, is voluntary (not mandatory), and time-bound—applications via TG-IPASS portal within six months. Vacated sites will be repurposed for public utility, reviving idle lands and phasing out outdated, polluting technologies.

The minister pointed out that HILT averts a "slow-motion biological disaster." "No matter the criticisms, we won't back down from doing good for the people," the Minister stressed, calling for unity beyond politics to secure Hyderabad's healthy, sustainable future.