Encroachment of government lands is passé. Even lakes and nalas are not safe anymore. Melacheru Shikam land at Tellapur village in Ramchandrapuram mandal is the latest casualty at the hands of land sharks.
Even though full tank level (FTL) of the tank is fixed, a developer has allegedly encroached upon 1.02 guntas of the land bearing survey No. 384 and 385. Of this M/s Aliens Developers Pvt Ltd has built multi-storied apartment in 0.22 guntas and the rest is kept fallow for further development.
This fraud came to light during a ‘revenue sadassu’ programme, when the villagers sought action against the developer.
After due enquiry Ramchandrapuram Tahsildar B. Geetha, filed a police complaint.
A case was also registered at Ramachandrapuram police station vide crime number 141/2012 also.
The Medak Joint Collector has also asked the Tahsildar to conduct a detailed survey and submit a report immediately.
The Mandal Revenue Inspector and the Village Revenue Officer of Tellapur have been asked to stop the construction work in the encroached FTL and report compliance. A general notice has also been issued to M/s Aliens Developers.
The Human Rights and Consumer Protection cell, BHEL, too has lodged a complaint against the developer and requested for joint survey of the site by officials of HMDA, Revenue and Irrigation Department.
In this backdrop, the Tahsildar requested the Joint Collector to order a joint survey and inspection of works taken up by M/s Aiens Developers in an official communication dated June 08, 2012. (copy in possession of The Hindu ).
Two more cases
In another instance encroachment of a nala at two places on the city outskirts has come to light.
But the GHMC has failed to take action even after the matter is brought to its notice by residents.
One encroachment on the nala is at Madinaguda in Serlingampally mandal just after the Erla Cheruvu sluice and the other one near Kallam Anji Reddy Vidyalaya (Dr. Reddy’s Foundation). The nala which carries the excess water from Erla Cheruvu to the next tank has been encroached by a private builder by dumping mud and boulders.
Apartments submerged
During the recent rain the surplus water which was to flow into the nala got diverted into the residential area submerging the apartments. Complaints by the residents to the GHMC, Revenue and Irrigation authorities have been of little help.
Thakur Raj Kumar Singh, convener, and Y. Panasa Rama Krishna, co-convener, Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL), in a statement on Tuesday said people who were buying flats in the area were not aware that they would have to live with water in their cellars at least whenever it rained.
According to A.P. Land Encroachment Act, 1905 there should be no construction near water bodies. “As the bio-diversity meet is going to happen in Hyderabad, things like this will bring the diverse facets of the city to light,” the SOUL activists said.
They said a complaint was lodged when the builder started laying ground floor but the GHMC chose to look the other side and now the building is raised to third level. The matter was represented at different levels in the corporation besides Ranga Reddy Collector and MRO, Serilingampally, to no avail.
A city of lakes once, Hyderabad today was known for encroachment of lakes. Out of 3,086 lakes only 700 to 900 were left. Yet the government was not paying heed to protect the water bodies and instead supporting those who were swallowing them, they deplored. The SOUL activist demanded that the GHMC conduct a survey of the nala and remove all encroachments forthwith.
