Hyderabad: Over 1,000 families have been affected by the Metro Rail pillars construction, which started along the new Bhoiguda Y-junction all the way to Musheerabad junction on August 4.
Residents here have been protesting against the Metro Rail works since May, when they were served notices by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to give up their land.
The New Bhoiguda area has a mix of apartments and independent houses and most residents had registered their objections with the GHMC and also the Metro Rail authorities, but that has not helped.
Vausdev Rao, president of the New Bhoiguda Y-junction Association, said, “The GHMC had given us a deadline of July 28 to vacate two apartments, Central View and Sai Apartments. Due to severe resistance from the residents, the civic body gave us three more months to vacate.”
The GHMC has promised to pay Rs 45,000 per square yard, though the market price is Rs 1.5 lakh per square yard. Even that promise was only verbal and there is no paper work to this effect.
Gowri Shanker, another resident of the area, said, “Everything has been verbal and there is no official communication from the government.
Despite our resistance, the pillar works have started. We are asking them to not widen the road to 100 feet. They should widen it to only 70 feet as it will save our land. The officers are not willing to look at the ground realities.”
Member of Parliament Bandaru Dattatraya, who was also approached by the residents, has asked the GHMC to look at the vacant Railway land on the eastern side. Mr Dattatraya says, “In a bid to acquire the land, the GHMC is failing to understand that not only the buildings, but the complete socio-cultural set-up of the area will get disturbed.”
