Hyderabad: Due to an apparent ‘goof-up’ by the GHMC, nearly 90 families in Madeenaguda, Serilingampally stand to be displaced from their homes. The residents of Sai Krupa Apartments moved into their homes at the beginning of 2019. Today, the GHMC has said the apartments have to demolished for a 100-foot-wide road, as prescribed by its master plan.
It has said the apartments are encroaching on public land. Terrified residents wonder why the GHMC gave the buildings the necessary permits if their apartments encroach on public land.
The apartments, located close to the Chandanagar railway station, were completed a few months ago.
The residents had barely settled in when they came to know of GHMC’s plan to construct the road along their street. They were told their apartments would be razed since the plan had clearly prescribed the road there and that construction there was illegal. Residents say their building has all the necessary permits.
Ram Kishore, an outraged resident, said, “We have all the permissions. We have a clear paper trail — proceedings letter, occupancy letter. We bought this flat because we were convinced. Today, we are being told our building is illegal. How are we at fault?”
The residents, in an attempt to plead their case, have met Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi and even the GHMC’s chief city planner Devendar Reddy both of whom responded positively and were reportedly bewildered how the building was awarded the permissions at all.
It is learnt that the residents will be issued notices by GHMC’s town planning department within the week. Apoorv, a perplexed and disappointed resident said, “A few months ago, everything seemed fine and the complex was full of activity. Today, the atmosphere is very bad. People no longer gather in the open areas for gossip. Everyone is scared. We have all put in our savings into buying flats here. We don’t want to lose everything.”
Apoorv said that at no point were they ever made aware of the master plan issue. “The construction went on smoothly. Many of us applied for bank loans and the banks, too, processed it all. Banks are required to inspect the permits and property before they issue a loan but even during this process nothing fishy came up. We did everything right by the book,” he said. K. Revanth, another resident, said, “We are very scared. Before we agreed to buy a house, we were shown all the necessary documentation by the builder. Nothing seemed fishy then.”
K. Ravinder, town planning supervisor, said the ball has been set rolling already. “The survey has been done. The road development plan (RDP), regarding the construction or expansion of new roads, has been approved,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gandhi said he was looking into the matter and working with GHMC to see that the residents don’t have to struggle. “The permissions, both by the local and central (GHMC) authorities, seem to have been given by mistake. I am sure we will be able to find a solution agreeable to both parties. We don’t want the residents to lose their houses either,” he said.
However, these statements offer little relief to the over 200 residents of these buildings.
