Hyderabad, June 21: Revenue Department officials early on Sunday morning swooped on Ghousenagar, a slum in Bandlaguda mandal and demolished 23 houses. The locality comes under Survey No 82 and the houses were allegedly constructed on government land.
The surprise action, by the Revenue department officials has left over one hundred persons without a roof on their heads.
The demolitions began at 6 am on Sunday morning when most of the residents were asleep. The Revenue officials arrived on the scene with JCBs and a large contingent of police personnel.
Even as the residents pleaded that they be given time to at least go in the houses and retrieve their belongings, the Revenue officials gave the orders to start the demolition works.
Within minutes, not only the houses, but also personal belonging of the residents vanished into heaps of rubble.
The residents claim that they have been living in the area since the last 12-15 years in ‘pucca’ houses.
The residents further claimed that they have been paying taxes and also the electricity bills regularly.
When contacted, Bandlaguda Mandal Revenue Officer M Karunakar told INN that the land measures around 12 acres and it has been wholly encroached upon.
Sunday’s demolition was the start of implementing the government proposed plan to construct one thousand houses for its various housing schemes.
Mr Karunakar said that the action was taken on the instructions of Hyderabad Collector Natarajan Gulzar and if need be, the illegal houses on the rest of the property will be demolished.
Among the demolished properties, an Islamic seminary (Madarsa) by the name of Madarsa Abu Bakr Siddiq was also demolished. Talking to INN the rector of the Madarsa Mohammed Kamil said that the authorities did not even allow the Madarsa staff to bring out copies of the Holy Quran.
He claims that these copies of the Holy Text have been buried in the rubble.
One of the residents Banu Begum cried as she said that “the Collector had ‘looted’ my lifelong saving in a manner of minutes.”
She said that she had bought a 100 sq yard plot for Rs 1,50,000 four years ago form one Syed Mohsin.
Banu Begum claims that Mohsin told her that this was a ‘patta’ land. Banu Begum spent another Rs 2.5 lakhs on construction of a house on the plot.
Her husband, Mohammed Mahboob was a road-roller driver who had lost his legs two years ago in a road accident. She says that the house was her only notable possession and now she has nothing.
An electrician, 22-year-old Mohammed Jaweed says his father had bought a 100 sq yard plot 15 years ago to be sold at the time of his sister’s marriage. This hope has been crushed with the Revenue Department’s JCBs early on Sunday morning.
——–Agencies