Soon after coming to power, the KCR government has been relentlessly trying to privatise public properties and inventing construction schemes. This pursuit has blinded it to public concerns about quality of life, environment and preserving the heritage of the 400-year old great historical city that Hyderabad is.

Attempts to take over the Erragadda lands of the Chest and Mental Hospitals, plans to rebuild and shift Secretariat, shift Osmania General Hospital, attempts to take over Osmania University lands, sudden demolition of the IAS association office to build another Vastu-compliant camp office even as the case was still in High Court, the proposal to demolish the historic stone structure of Moazam Jahi Market to build a new market, are but a few examples.

The project of taking over the NTR stadium and to build a cultural centre called Kalabharati was talked about less than a year after this government took charge in 2014. By April 20, 2015, the CM had already approved the design for the building which was to accommodate “four auditoria with a seating capacity of 3,000, 1,500, 1,000 and 500, respectively. The Kalabharathi building will have an experience theatre, preview theatre, practice and rehearsal area, library, art museum, painting and sculpture galleries, seminar rooms, restaurants and guest rooms … car parking for 3,000 vehicles and a gathering space for 10,000 persons...”, The Hindu reported.

In January 2016, the government has changed the land use “of the 14-acre NTR stadium near Indira Park from open land to that of public and semi-public use, under Section 15 (1) of the HMDA Act, 2008.” The report also quoted an unnamed official saying that such a change in land use is ultra vires, as NTR stadium is a part of the old MCH area.

In a more recent development, when the Telangana JAC proposed to hold a rally at the Dharna Chowk, which is just outside the NTR stadium, the government came up with the new excuse of the local residents complaining about traffic, lack of safety and inconvenience caused by the protests held every day at the Dharna Chowk. The protest rally was not allowed. Later, the government went on to announce four remote locations on various ends of the expanding city for holding protests.

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