Officials are turning a blind eye to the alarming issue Unauthorised structures on rise

Unauthorised constructions are increasing at an alarming rate in the city. Since the Building Regularisation Scheme (BRS) deadline ended in March 2016, more than one lakh illegal constructions have come up in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.

With the entire civic body team busy with election work since a month, the ground level staff in the town planning wing has been turning a blind eye to the illegal constructions at the circle level.

Even though several complaints have been lodged with the civic body, senior officers claim they cannot focus on such issues until the conclusion of the elections. According to highly placed sources in the corporation, illegal constructions have mushroomed in Serilingampally, Quthbullapur and Kukatpally circles.

The nexus between unscrupulous builders and equally venal ground level staff is flourishing and resulting in illegal constructions in every nook and corner of the city. Sources say that each bill collector has appointed private agents to check new unauthorised constructions and collect the money for allowing the unauthorised structure.

The building regularisation scheme was announced by the Telangana government in November 2015.

Till it ended in March 2016, the GHMC received 1.39 lakh BRS applications from building owners and builders for regularising their illegal structures. However, the high court issued a stay order in December 2015, following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the BRS due to which the scheme was halted.

The court allowed the government to receive the applications but directed it not to regularise till it delivers the judgement.

Not even two per cent of the applications submitted have been scrutinised by the civic body.

A senior GHMC official admitted that several unauthorised structures have come up in the city and said that the process to demolish them will begin after the elections.

He said the corporation has asked the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) to take satellite images of all the 1.39 lakh buildings that were submitted for regularisation under BRS.

“After receiving the satellite images and report from NRSA, we will hand it over to the Centre for Good Governance to match with the photos submitted by the owners at the time of submission of BRS applications.

“If any unauthorised construction is found since the application was made, the application will be put aside and action will be initiated,” he said.