28,000 illegal buildings to be razed, says KCR `10K reward for info on unlawful structures
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered a “merciless demolition drive” against 28,000 illegal buildings in the city to clear encroachments on nalas and lakebeds to save Hyderabad from floods and inundation in future.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday at the Secretariat after reviewing the rain and flood situation in the state and Hyderabad, Mr Rao said that the demolition drive would begin soon after normalcy is restored. Mr Rao announced the setting up of a flying squad for each of the 24 GHMC circles to demolish old illegal buildings and any illegal building that is coming up now. He asked all parties, social organisations and media to cooperate with the government.
Mr Rao also announced a reward of `10,000 to anyone who alerts the government about any illegal building coming up in their locality.
“I warn all not to construct illegal buildings. It will be demolished mercilessly. Don’t waste your money. Whether the builder is a minister, MLA, MP, or anyone else, it does not matter to us,” Mr Rao said.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered a “merciless demolition drive” against illegal buildings in the city to clear encroachments on nalas and lakebeds.
“According to weather experts, the La Nina cycle has begun. We will witness similar kind of heavy rain in the coming years. If we don’t act now, this will repeat,” he said.
Mr Rao said the city has 300-km of nalas, of which 170 km on the Musi have been encroached upon. This will be cleared soon.
“If there are any poor people among them, we will provide them houses under 2BHK housing scheme,” he added.
Mr Rao announced the setting up of a tribunal to deal with illegal buildings and deviation in building plans.
Mr Rao said the flood fury was because of sins committed by Congress and TD governments. They had approved the 28,000 illegal buildings over nalas, some of them government buildings.
He said if the Opposition was sincere about developing Hyderabad, they should not resist the demolition drive.
Mr Rao said learning a lesson from Chennai floods, the Karnataka Chief Minister had ordered demolition of nearly 250 illegal structures to save Bengaluru from floods and state would adopt this.