Hyderabad: If you spot a government property or lake under kabza by land sharks in Hyderabad, you can now call the number 1800-599-0099 to tip the authorities off.
The toll-free tip line for whistleblowers was launched by the Telangana municipal admin minister K T Rama Rao on Sunday, along with an asset protection cell to safeguard government-owned properties withing the area administered by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
The toll-free number allows you to register a complaint with the Directorate of Enforcement Vigilance & Disaster Management (EV&DM). The parks, lakes and open spaces protection cell (asset protection cell) can be contacted from 10 am to 6 pm on all working days.
The GHMC area has about 190 tanks and lakes in addition to about 100 parks, big and small. Corporation officials say they are really not sure how many of the parks have been encroached or are lying neglected.
Explaining the initiative, EV&DM director Viswajit Kampati said, “Usually we see that many good samaritans come forward with complaints about encroachments. In order to accommodate all such complaints, we have launched this dedicated cell.”
He said that two operators have been deployed to take such complaints, but their number could increase if the number of calls increases.
The complainant will have the option to either give their full details or remain anonymous. Every complainant will have a unique number assigned to them and the data will be shared with the respective assistant enforcement officers of the directorate of EV&DM. The officer will then conduct a field visit and, if an encroachment is found, take appropriate steps for its removal, Kampati said.
He added that there is an officer assigned to the cell in six zones in the GHMC. In case, a complainant chooses to give their details, the officers will share regular updates of the progress of removal of encroachments brought to notice.
On whether any data is so far available on encroachments in the city limits, Kampati said, “The irrigation department has data of lakes, but for parks and open spaces, the number is huge all around GHMC. So far, EV&DM has recovered 18 big parks in the city from encroachments. As and when we get more data from the citizens, we will act on it.”
