Hyderabad: The defence ministry is seeking its pound of flesh for shifting some of its establishments from the Cantonments in Secunderabad and Hyderabad to the outskirts of the city.
Defence authorities want 1.5 acres of land for every acre of land surrendered to the TS government, full-fledged infrastructure and value of the existing buildings.
Though stumped, the TS government has agreed to the 1.5 acres of land for every acre it takes, besides creating complete infrastructure like roads, water supply network, drainage etc. but has balked at the demand for paying the present value of the existing buildings, since this could run up to crores of rupees.
“The TS government hasn’t agreed to pay the value of existing buildings. Talks are on,” said S. Venugopala Chary, special representative of the TS government in New Delhi. “Fixing the present value of the buildings will not be possible,” he added.
A senior defence official said that he has no information about the discussions between the TS government and the defence ministry on the subject.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had met defence minister Manohar Parrikar seeking allotment of 60 acres of land of the Bison Polo Ground in Secunderabad for an alternative site on the city outskirts for construction of the new Secretariat building.
Mr Rao had also proposed shifting of some defence establishments located in Secunderabad AOC gate, Tirumalgherry, Alwal, Bolarum etc and Golconda, Mehdipatnam, Santoshnagar etc in Hyderabad to decongest the city.
The TS government plans to utilise the prime land to develop more infrastructure.
Secunderabad Cantonment traces its history to 1798. Of the 40.17 sq. km in the Cantonment limits, 58 per cent belongs to the defence establishment, 37 per cent is civil area, 4.20 per cent is under Central government, a part under the airport authorities, and there are slums and private lands on the remaining area.
The 62 Cantonments in the country are headed by five Army commands and are categorised 1 to 5 on the basis of civil population. Secunderabad Cantonment falls under Category 1 since its population is above 50,000, but still lack civic amenities.
A dispute between the state and defence authorities had forced the former to order resurvey of the entire defence lands.
Revenue authorities say that Defence authorities should have 3,000 acres of land as per records, but are in possession of 3,940 acres.
