Panthers and Hyenas visit 'ancestral home' at Madhapur Hitech City

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Pushed out of the jungles on the outskirts of the city decades ago, wild animals like panthers and hyenas are now reclaiming their “ancestral” homes in search of breathing space and foodTuesday’s sighting of two felines, believed to be panthers, at Puppalaguda near Gatchibowli here is said to be part of the process of revisiting areas where their ancestors roamed freelyAccording to forest officials, areas on the outskirts of the city like Madhapur, Nagole and Vanasthalipuram were once shrubs and bushes. With the spurt in realty business in neighbouring Ranga Reddy districts, wild animals lost their natural habit and the source of foo. This pushed them to residential localities in search of newer habitatsResidents of Puppalaguda have been spending sleepless night for the past three days after they spotted leopard and hyenas in their locality. Forest officials said these areas were once the habitats of the wild animalsThe forest department’s anti-poaching squad incharge, Mr M. Raja Ramana Reddy, said, “we have taken the pug marks from these areas. We have to confirm whether those are the pugmarks of panther or striped hyena. Some people also saw a panther recently in Nagole. Madhapur is the best example of the destruction of wildlife ecosystem.” For the past three days, labourers who stay near stone crushing quarries in Puppalaguda, have been spotting the panther“The panthers or hyenas may have come to this locality to prey upon street dogs,” said Mr Reddy“We are under constant fear that they may attack us,” said a labourer.

Encroachers eat into RK Puram Lake

By Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

In a covert midnight operation, land sharks bulldozed the bund built by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority at the Ramakrishnapuram Lake in Malkajgiri on Sunday and pushed it further back to facilitate encroachmentsAlready, land grabbers have encroached upon a major portion of the lake bed and the full tank level (FTL) area in Bank ColonyThe HMDA had built the 100-metre bund to prevent further loss of land. Further encroachment would pose serious threat to the surrounding localities during heavy rains and destroy the lake’s flora and faunaMr A.M. Yousuf Hussein, deputy executive engineer of the HMDA Urban Forestry Lakes Division, said his department had asked revenue officials to take action on those who damaged the bund. “I was told that a few local goons damaged the bund on Sunday night,” he said“We are going to lodge a complaint against them.” In fact, after residents e bund informed the cops, a police patrol warned the workersBut the bulldozing started as soon as the police leftThe Malkajgiri mandal revenue officer, Mr Kishan Rao, said he was waiting for a report from the revenue inspectorThough the High Court has said that lay outs and buildings surrounding lakes and in FTL area shall not be regularised, encroachers have applied for lay out regularisation and building penalisation scheme.
HMDA lodges complaint with police

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) officials on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Neredmet police seeking action against those who damaged the bund of Ramakrishnapuram lake in Malkajgiri“Some unsocial elements have destroyed the bund of Ramakrishnapuram (mukkidi) cheruvu to to build plots within the full tank level (FTL),” said the HMDA deputy executive engineer, Mr Yousuf Hussein, who had lodged the complaintAnother complaint was also lodged with Malkajgiri Mandal Revenue OfficerHMDA officials named one Sudhakar, Mallesh Yadav and Amarendar in the complaintThe Neredmet subinspector, Mr Chandrasekhar, said, “We have received the complaint from HMDA officials and are verifying it.”

Biochemical terror threat to Krishna water supply system

Special Protection Force to protect it

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

The Krishna water supply pipeline, water treatment plant and pump houses that supply drinking water to Hyderabad, will now be guarded by the Special Protection ForceThe decision was taken following the warning issued by the state police and intelligence agencies that the pipeline could be blown up by the terrorists or Maoists and there is also a possibility of poisoning the water with biochemical agents. Thirty guards will form an SPF team to protect the water treatment plant and pump houses. The guard would be guarding the pipeline at key points from Nalgonda to Hyderabad. The Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board director (technical), Mr M. Satyanarayana said: “We have asked for SPF protection since we have big installations for water treatment that are worth around Rs 1,000 crore. It can be an easy target for not only the terrorists but also other agents.” The main treatment plant is at Kodandapur near Akkampalli balancing reservoir in Nalgonda district. The pipel ine from the plant to the city is 116 km. Storage reservoirs of total 90 million litres per day capacity are installed at Kodandapur, Nasarlapally, Godakondla, Gungal and Sahebnagar“Intelligence inputs suggest that the water could be poisoned with chemical agents,” a senior official saidEarlier, it was decided that the SPF would be deployed at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). But due to increased threat perception, the state government is likely to rope in the National Security Guard to protect the Tirumala temple. “So the demand for the personnel has come down. It will now be easy to give cover to the Krishna water supply pipeline and systems,” an official said.

NSG: Mumbai operation heroes lead Black Cats in Hyderabad

By U Sudhakar Reddy

The commandos who shot down the terrorists during the Taj Hotel and Nariman House siege in Mumbai last November will head the National Security Guard hub in the cityBrigadier Subash Rangi and Lt Col. Sandeep Sen, who took part in Operation Black Tornado following the November 26 terror attack, will be leading the team of 250 NSG commandos to protect the city against jihadi terrorists as well as Maoists“We will be dealing with counter terrorism and counter hijack operations,” said Brig. Rangi. “We are not going to say that we will not touch left wing extremism. In case a situation of specific nature comes up like a hostage situation we will be dealing with it.” The local NSG hub will be covering Hyderabad and nearby areas and other cities within the State“If there are incidents in places such as Nellore and Tirupati the NSG hub in nearby Chennai will be called in,” said Brigadier Rangi. “Some part of Orissa is closer to Andhra and so Hyderabad will be dealing with it.” During operations, the NSG hub will be using facilities of the Army, Navy, BSF and CRPF. “In case of deficiencies we will take the help of Delhi or neighbouring hubs,” he said. “The response time will be decreased. Soon after the construction at Trimulgherry is completed we will move to that place.” Meanwhile, sources said the NSG is unlikely to take up the protection of Tirupati temple. “I will not be able to comment on that at this time,” said BrigRangiThe Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, will be unfurling the NSG flag at R-40, CISF barracks, in Old Airport at Begumpet on WednesdayThe decision to set up NSG hubs at important cities was taken following the 26/11 strikes.