Watering Hyderabad’s dried-up dreams

Since its inception in July this year, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency, simply known as HYDRAA, has been making headlines for its ruthless bulldozing of unauthorised structures raised on the city’s water bodies. With unflinching support from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, this newly-constituted body has challenged powerful figures accused of encroachments. Swathi Vadlamudi tracks HYDRAA’s high-profile actions and examines the critical need for urban lake protection