After almost eight years of sustained effort, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has finally managed to acquire a piece of land measuring 333 square yards belonging to Green Mosque to widen the busy stretch on Road No. 2, Banjara Hills.
After payment of the agreed compensation for the land, the civic body has already started work on widening this part of the stretch. According to the GHMC officials, the total compensation amount was worked out to Rs. 2.81 crore and after tax deductions, an amount of the Rs. 2.54 crore had been deposited in favour of the parties concerned.
“We had several rounds of discussions with the mosque mutawalli and also the Wakf Board and finally they agreed on the amount being deposited in their joint account. We had done that and started work on widening,” said the GHMC Additional Commissioner (Planning), D. Ronald Rose.
During the negotiations over the years, the land required for road widening here was brought to 372 square yards, but the committee members of the Green Mosque (Masjid-e-Hussaini) finally agreed to concede 333 square yards.
Now, with work here having started, the civic body has three more bottlenecks that need to be removed on the Banjara Hills Road No.2 to create a uniform 100-foot drive space. The officials said a decision on compensation award for a private property measuring about 155 square yards on the opposite side of the Green Mosque was almost in final stage and expected in a day or two.
The GHMC also wanted some space from a graveyard on this stretch and the committee here too had been engaged in discussions, Mr. Rose said. For the land of a temple close to L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital, a series of meetings are being held with the committee members and there is hope that this issue would be sorted out at the earliest. “The negotiations with the temple committee are in very advanced stage and we hope to wind it up positively very soon,” an official said. There was some open space in the Eye Hospital campus behind the temple and the temple committee wanted this space to be provided for them to shift the place of worship, officials added.