Hyderabad, Jan.6 (RAHNUMA): Industries must not grow at the cost of people’s lives, declared IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu in the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, asserting that the “HILT policy” is a historic step to protect public health and the environment.
Participating in the debate on the issue, the Minister said the policy was being deliberately misrepresented as a mere land-use change. “This is not about revenue records. It is about ensuring clean air and safe drinking water for our children and future generations”, he added.
Tracing Hyderabad’s industrial evolution, Sridhar Babu pointed out that areas once developed as industrial zones in the 1970s are now densely populated residential hubs, creating serious health hazards. Toxic emissions, groundwater contamination, and the absence of buffer zones have pushed the city towards an ecological crisis, he warned.
Citing global examples such as London’s Clean Air Act and China’s Blue Sky Protection Plan, the Minister said relocating polluting industries outside city limits is a proven solution. “A city cannot gamble with the lungs of its people for economic growth,” he remarked.
He dismissed allegations by BRS and BJP leaders as baseless, stating that land conversion under HILT is voluntary, transparent, and time-bound, and applies only to lands owned by industrial units. The policy was formulated after expert consultations and aligns with Supreme Court rulings prioritising the Right to Life over industrialization, he added.
“HILT is corrective surgery for Hyderabad’s ecological imbalance”, Sridhar Babu said, reaffirming the government’s commitment to public interest over politics.
