Illegal construction to be made an offence in Telangana

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is all set to make illegal construction of buildings a cognizable offence. This will enable people to file criminal cases against builders of illegal constructions. Neighbours surrounding such buildings or those facing problems on account of such buildings can also file criminal cases.

 

Concerned officials will also be held responsible for any illegal buildings coming up in their jurisdiction henceforth and stringent action will be initiated against them. 

The new norms will be applicable to new illegal buildings besides existing old buildings for which owners have failed to apply for Building Regularisation Scheme (BRS).

 

The Cabinet sub-committee, which met at the Secretariat on Wednesday, has decided to give a “last and final chance” to people to apply for the BRS and Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) besides introducing a single window approval system to grant clearances for construction of buildings within 30 days in a zero-graft manner.

 

The committee has referred these issues to CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao for approval. The CM is expected to give his approval after he returns from China next week.

 

The committee comprising city ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Mohd Mahmood Ali and T. Padma Rao Goud met officials of HMDA, GHMC and MAUD and drafted the new norms.

 

Speaking to the reporters, Mr Yadav made it clear that there was no question of allowing illegal buildings on service roads, nalas, shikham lands (belonging to lakes, water bodies etc.) and in violation of GO. 111 ensuring protection of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar lakes.

 

He said the duration to grant construction approvals will be brought down to just 30 days from the existing 180 days and the online, single-window system would check corruption.

 

To overcome legal hurdles, the TS government is planning to give extension to GO No. 901 issued by the YSR government in 2007 for BRS and LRS instead of issuing a fresh GO as the AP High Court had then allowed the government to go in for BRS/LRS only after it submitted a written undertaking before the court that it would be a “one-time scheme”.The government cannot prescribe penal provisions on its own through a GO and it has to amend the law, a legal expert has said.

 

“The GHMC Act has to be amended for this. Even for amendment, the government has to specify the penal action as per provisions of IPC and not it's own provisions," said High Court advocate C. Damodar Reddy.