Hyderabad, April 21: It is a deep nexus between certain politicians and officials of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) that has led to the construction of unauthorised buildings, including high rises and complexes, in the Secunderabad Cantonment area.
Of the 1.4 lakh to 1.5 lakh small and big buildings that have come up within the SCB limits, 90 percent are either unauthorised or have been built in deviation of the sanctioned plan, SCB sources said.
With lack of monitoring by the engineering wing combined with political clout of the eight SCB ward members, illegal constructions are still continuing unabated in the Cantonment area even today, they said.
As per the provisions of the Cantonment Act, land owners can only construct buildings with two storeys within the area. But there are umpteen number of multi-storied buildings and commercial complexes which go beyond four storeys. This is an open violation of the building rules and regulations and is not possible without the knowledge of local leaders and officials, sources said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials on Tuesday conducted searches at several places, including the office of SCB and seized several incriminating documents. They registered a case against the Chief Executive Officer of SCB, engineering officials and private builders on charges that SCB officials had conspired with the builders and allowed unauthorised constructions in the SCB limits.
SCB sources told Express that even the local politicians including the eight elected ward members are hand in glove with the builders and are making money by encouraging unauthorised constructions.
Though, the engineering wing of SCB slapped notices and ordered the demolition of illegal buildings, they failed to follow it up properly and only knocked down some deviated portions randomly. No serious drive was initiated to do any large-scale demolition.
Another strange thing is that the engineering wing does not have a demolition squad. They hire machinery and daily labourers from outside to do any demolition works.
Unlike the Town Planning Wing in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, which gives building permissions, it is the engineering wing that does so in the SCB area.
“Large number of illegal constructions came up in the Cantonment area after the Begumpet airport was shifted to Shamshabad area about three years ago,” sources said. When the Begumpet airport was there, every building coming up in the area needed a ‘no objection certificate’ from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) before construction
——Expressnews