Illegal colonies still untouched
In the last two days, the GHMC has managed to pull down single rooms, slabs, compound walls and a few commercial structures, but there are colonies like Nadeem Colony, Nizam Colony and many others that are encroaching on nala and lake lands that will be left untouched.
A GHMC source said, “Colonies will not be touched, but the edge of the nalas touching the colonies will be widened and maintained. So far the zonal heads have not listed these colonies in the demolition list. The GHMC has not yet decided to demolish huge structures that are encroaching.”
Meanwhile even after four days without any rain, parts of some colonies were inundated. At Nadeem Colony, about 500 to 600 families are living in about 250 houses that are affected by the rains. The area occupied by the houses is part of the tank foreshore, which should not have been used for dwelling houses or any other structures. This might have happened because the boundaries of the tank were not clearly demarcated and there was no regular monitoring by the GHMC and the Revenue department.
There is no approved layout from HUDA for the entire area, nor is there permission from the GHMC.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife whether the demolition drive will be sustained or will it be dropped midway like the one on illegal constructions.
Soon after the TRS government came into power, a massive demolition drive was launched at Ayyappa Society, Hafizpet, Gurukul. However, the drive soon lost steam.
But going by the threehour conference call of the Chief Minster with the GHMC commissioner on Monday night, the CM wants to be ahead of Bengaluru in terms of demolition. BMC had carried out 200 demolitions in two months, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao, meanwhile wants 300 on a single day.