The Telangana Cabinet has granted legal sanctity to the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA). The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy yesterday in Hyderabad focused extensively on providing HYDRAA with statutory powers to clear encroachments besides undertaking disaster management operations across the Telangana Core Urban Region (TCUR).

Briefing media after the meeting, Revenue and Information and Public Relations Minister P. Srinivas Reddy said the state government will issue an ordinance to formalise HYDRAA’s powers, which will be comparable to those of municipalities and revenue and irrigation departments. HYDRAA, once vested with legal authority, will serve as the sole unified agency responsible for clearing encroachments and disaster management within the TCUR, an area encompassing the GHMC region, along with parts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, and Sangareddy districts that fall within the Outer Ring Road.