Hyderabad: The leaseholder of Yogi Bear Mini Golf Park at Necklace Road has alleged that two geese have died because HMDA officials did not feed them after they sealed the park. The leaseholder has alleged that the geese, owned by them, had died of hunger and thirst as they had been kept locked in the park.
On November 19, HMDA officials had sealed the park as the 15-year lease had ended. They allegedly did not allow the owners to take the birds. On the night of November 25, the staff reopened the park and disposed of the carcass of the birds.
Leaseholder Yogini Agarwal alleged that the HMDA has taken over the one-acre premises when the case is still in court. Ms Agarwal said, “One acre on Necklace Road was leased out in 2000 by the then TD government under the fast track privatisation project. The park began operations in 2001.”
She said the park was to be given a lease sanction of 33 years under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) scheme. “For reasons unknown, it was initially given a 15-year lease which was to be later extended. Our lease period had expired in June 2016. We had applied for extension of our lease a year back but we had not received a single notice, even to say that we would not be granted an extension. We approa-ched the High Court in July and got a stay order for 12 weeks, which ended in October,” she said.
She said, “On November 19, without issuing notice, the park staff was asked to leave and HMDA officials sealed the premises. They didn’t allow us to enter the premises. We managed to feed the geese for the first two days, but were later told that they had died. The case is still up for hearing and HMDA locked the park.”
“The case has not come up for hearing yet, neither has the government pursued it. There is no latest direction on the case,” added Ms Agarwal. Further, she added: “We have paid the rent till November 2016. We appeal to the government not to turn the place into a commercial establishment and to keep it as a children’s park.” A HMDA official, however, said that the stay period had expired and the premises had been sealed.
