Hyderabad: An ongoing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) survey by the Gr-eater Hyderabad Muni-cipal Corporation (GHMC) to bring all unas-sessed property into the tax net led to a piquant situation with residents in some localities protesting the survey.
They feared it was a disguised Citizenship Ame-ndment Act (CAA) and National Register of Cit-izens (NRC) survey.
This happened in the GHMC’s Chandrayan-gutta and Falaknuma circles this past week. Uncertainty over CAA-NRC made locals prevent GHMC officials from photographing their buildings. The civic body has now decided to explain to all residents, particularly in the Old City, about the GIS survey’s purpose. The GHMC has also instructed officials to explain that the survey has nothing to do with the CAA or NRC. Civic body officials have been authorised to seek police escort for the survey, if necessary.
To keep a tab on the number of structures in the city, the corporation has divided the Greater Hyderabad area into 340 sections and prepared dockets for each for the staff to carry. The GHMC, in a preliminary survey, identified as many as 8,952 properties not under the property tax net. Valuation officers from GHMC’s revenue wing were asked to photograph structures and attach them to the docket for transparency and accountability.
This decision took an unexpected turn and toll on revenue wing officials on the ground as residents objected to officials taking pictures. There were arguments and confrontations.
Residents abused officials claiming that it was a secret operation by the Central government on CAA and NRC. Similarly, Old City residents also objected to a recent drone survey by the town planning wing to determine the number of unauthorised constructions. The drone survey was opposed by elected representatives claiming it would breach local citizens' privacy.
Senior GHMC officials were caught off-guard, and held a video conference from headquarters near Tank Bund with the staff on the ground. They were shocked by the misapprehension. The staff was advised to seek police protection and explain to citizens about the survey's purpose. Officials were even advised not to utter personal opinion on CAA and NRC.
Incidentally, the Yousufguda circle has the most unassessed properties, at 1409. The Serilingampally circle has the lowest with five unassessed properties. There are a total of 30 circles in the city.
