Locals oppose MLA T Srinivas Yadav’s plan

Hyderabad: Residents of Sanjeev Reddy Nagar are opposed to TRS minister T. Srinivas Yadav’s proposal to convert available government space into a community hall and a three-level vegetable and meat market.

The minister, during a recent visit to his constituency, had announced that the community hall would be re-built at SR Nagar along with a meat-cum-fish market with common underground parking.

According to GO 72, government spaces should not be converted into commercial establishments and must be kept accessible only for the residents.

The proposal is to construct a community hall on about 778 sq yards out of the total area of 3125 sq yards and use the rest (about 2,347 sq. yards) to build a multi-level market, with parking in the basement.

On April 14, the residents had convened a meeting and decided to oppose the proposal.

“There has been a long pending request for re-construction of the old community hall. When the Housing Board started the sale of houses here more than 45 years ago, the allottees had to pay their share of the cost of 3,125 sq. yards of land and for the community hall to be constructed on that. Such a decision without the will of the residents is highly inappropriate,” said Indra Reddy, president of SR Nagar Association.

“We need a community hall and the facilities should also include a post office and eSeva/Mee Seva centre. But under no circumstances should there be scope for any commercial utilisation,” said B. Krishna Murthy, member of SR Nagar Association.

“Any attempt to convert land for commercial purpose will face legal hurdles in view of the Government Order 72 MA, which prohibits the government from making any proposal to utilise reserve open spaces of layouts for purposes other than the intended original use like parks and playgrounds,” added former MLA Marri Shashidhar Reddy.

The GHMC authorities said that it was still at a proposal state and the pros and cons of the project would be looked into.