Telangana government vows to stop illegal constructions

Hyderabad: The TS government has informed the Hyderabad High Court that it intends to amend the Registration Act, 1908 by bringing in a provision stopping registration of unauthorised buildings or plots in the state. The government informed its intention through an affidavit pursuant to the direction of the High Court on a petition by one Jaan Mohammed, a resident of the city, alleging that his neighbour was raising a construction in violation of the sanctioned plan, without leaving any setbacks.

The government said that the Tamil Nadu government had already brought in a similar amendment and after studying it, it has decided to amend the Registration Act 1908. It said that the suggestion of the court to set up a Town Planning Tribunal by introducing a provision in Section 452, 461 and 463 of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) Act was under examination. Pending formation of the Tribunal, the GHMC has been directed to strictly enforce existing provisions under the HMC Act to curb unauthorised constructions.

The HMC Act was amended in 2008 for making unauthorised construction a cognizable offence with jail term of three years. The court was told that in October 2015, the GHMC had set up a Central Crash Team in Town Planning Section with two retired city planners and one assistant city planner to look into complaints of illegal constructions. The government said that the TPSC has already issued a notification to fill 200 vacancies in the GHMC to overcome the staff crunch.

It informed the court that the GHMC has identified 865 and out of which, 340 constructions were demolished after following the due process of law and 31 criminal cases were booked against the persons carrying out illegal constructions. After perusing the affidavit and hearing the arguments, the court reserved its order.