Hyderabad, August 31: Demolition of under-construction buildings at Sardar Patel Nagar in Kukatpally by the GHMC is only the tip of the iceberg. There are nearly 30,000 unauthorised buildings in the city which are occupied by families now. What’s more, these buildings have come up on government, wakf and endowment lands and on the full tank level (FTL) area of water bodies in the city.
Applications for regularisation of these 30,000 buildings were submitted to the civic body as part of the Building Penalisation Scheme, but were deemed ineligible for regularisation. Another six unauthorised buildings were demolished in Kukat-pally on Tuesday, but has no answer for the 30,000 illegal buildings.
When contacted, the GHMC chief city planner, Mr G.V. Raghu admitted that illegal buildings, particularly apartments and those with five floors, cannot be constructed without the knowledge of town planning staff.“There are clear orders from the CM to suspend officials involved in encouraging illegal constructions,” Mr Raghu said, adding no decision was taken yet on the 30,000 illegal buildings. “We have written to the government seeking directions on what to do with such buildings. There is no way that these applicants can be declared as owners of the land or house, as the lands belonged to either government, endowments, wakf or the FTL area. We are awaiting a reply,” he said.
—Courtesy:DC