The Tourism Department on Saturday took over the possession of 5.61 acres of land at Basheerbagh, which earlier belonged to Gandhi Medical College, by installing its own sign-boards and posting security guards to ward off encroachers.
Minister for Tourism Vatti Vasant Kumar, who is in Bhimavaram, said the department had taken this action following the failure of GSG Construction Private Limited of G. S. Gupta, a city builder, to remit money towards the lease of the land as agreed upon in the MoU signed with the government. Chandana Khan, Principal Secretary, Tourism, said the State government would shortly take a decision over how to use this valuable piece of land, which lay close to the Secretariat, for a public purpose.
Sources said the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had not issued any permission as yet to the company for construction of a shopping complex/ entertainment centre on the land, the market value of which is estimated over Rs. 300 crore.
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Taking all factors into considerations, the department, which secured the land from the college when it was shifted to Musheerabad, at the instance of the government after paying Rs. 63 crore, had served a termination notice to the company recently under various clauses of the agreement.