GHMC admits to illegal occupancy of OU land

Officials ask for relevant documents from encroachers

Succumbing to pressure mounted by civil society and Opposition leaders, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) conceded that nine persons had illegally occupied 3,296 square yards of land in DD Colony, Osmania University (OU).

Despite pressure from Opposition, the corporation claimed that it had acted upon a complaint lodged by OU Registrar Gopal Reddy on May 22. As per records, over 56 acres of the varsity land have been encroached in the last 30 years.

A top official from the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department said that some individuals started clearing bushes on Saturday and the corporation officials inspected the site and observed that one of the plot owners was digging the land and cleaning the site.

Officials stopped the work, dispersed the labour and informed the site supervisor not to take up any construction activity and submit all relevant documents pertaining to the said property.

The plot owners showed building permission issued by the GHMC on March 17, 2009, and orders of the High Court dated January 1, 2007, in which the court has ordered the station house officer of the Amberpet police to grant police aid to the petitioners, S. Jagan Mohan Rao and P. Krishna Reddy, for clearing the bushes in respect of their respective plots. The plot holders also submitted orders of the Supreme Court and copies of sale deeds.

Officials said that the permission issued by GHMC in March 2009 had lapsed in 2012 and plot holders had to obtain fresh permission before starting construction work, including the compound wall. They said HC orders are only for clearing bushes and not for construction purposes.

“The plot holders started construction of the compound wall late on Sunday evening. In view of the petition filed by the OU Registrar, and as there is no permission for construction of compound wall and as the earlier permission had lapsed,

GHMC officials immediately stopped the work on Monday morning and asked the parties to maintain status quo. The plot holders shall apply afresh for building/ compound wall permission, which will be examined by GHMC as per rules”, the civic official added.

Meanwhile, state Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, party leaders V. Hanumantha Rao, Ponnam Prabhakar, Ch Vamshichand Reddy and A. Sampath Kumar, on Sunday visited DD Colony and inspected the OU land that were claimed to be encroached. Amid mild tension, the leaders were detained by the police.