Hyderabad, Sep 3 (IANS): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed all District Collectors to remove encroachments on lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and other water bodies.

Terming encroachments on waterbodies an unforgivable crime, he said a state-wide special drive would be launched to remove encroachments.

He asked the Collectors to evolve a system along the lines of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), which has been carrying out demolition of illegal structures for the last few weeks to protect the lakes in and around Hyderabad.

In his remarks at the Mahabubabad district collectorate after visiting the flood-hit Khammam and Mahabubabad districts, the Chief Minister, ruling out any compromise on the protection of water bodies, asked Collectors to identify illegal structures built by encroaching the land of lakes and tanks and demolish them.

The Chief Minister suggested to the Collectors to study the records of the lakes, ponds, nalas and identify the encroachments and if necessary, get permission from courts.

"Take action, whoever they may be. Remove encroachments even if they belong to public representatives or people with influence in society," he said.

He voiced concern over the largescale encroachment of water bodies across the state, especially during the last 10 years and said this was resulting in environmental problems and floods.

"We need to put a full stop to this. If we attack nature, nature will not spare us. We need to learn lessons," he said. He also asked Collectors to initiate action against officers who had colluded with encroachers.

Revanth Reddy reiterated that the government would not succumb to pressure on the issue of removing encroachments and cited the demolitions carried out by HYDRAA. He mentioned that the removal of encroachment over a nala in Ramnagar in Hyderabad by HYDRAA saved that area from inundation. There have been demands to expand HYDRAA to districts. Stating that HYDRAA is a body for the protection of lakes in Hyderabad, he asked Collectors to evolve systems in their respective districts.

HYDRAA has been in the news for the last few weeks for demolishing alleged illegal structures of politicians including legislators in and around Hyderabad. It also pulled down a convention centre of popular actor Nagarjuna.