Hyderabad: 10-storey hotel built illegally at Kapadia Lane, claim residents

Hyderabad: Residents of Somajiguda are raising a stink over the alleged illegal construction of a hotel, as well as illegal parking and illegal encroachment on a road.

Kapadia Lane is home to IK London Residency Hotel, which has built additional floors illegally, they claim.

Resident Kalyan Yakaiah said, “The hotel has been built on approximately 400-500 sq. yards and does not have underground parking. But it has been turned into a 10-storey complex. A structure of its size, which lacks an underground level, cannot be structurally capable of holding the weight of its additional floors.”

Mr Yakaiah has been taking the matter up with civic authorities and has filed several RTIs over the years. He added, “The State Disaster Response and Fire Services in 2015, stated clearly that it had not given the hotel a No Objection Certificate to operate. Which means it is also quite likely a fire hazard.”

In an RTI response in 2016, a copy of which is with Deccan Chronicle, the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Traffic Department, said, “The total parking space available for IK London Residency Hotel is 3,500.33 sq. feet, which is not sufficient as per norms.”

Sanjay Bahuguna, owner of Bahuguna Tech-motives, who also lives in the lane added, “It is a severely congested area. The Asian Institute of Gastroenterology is next door, which means we are trapped between two very busy structures. Besides, I don’t know if the hotel took permission to build the floors that it has built, but the building definitely looks pretty tall.”

Mr Bahuguna, who has been living in the area for about eight years, added, “Small vendors are also operating illegally. They were removed three weeks ago but they have returned”.

The Additional and Zonal Commissioner of the GHMC Musharraf Faruqui, who is aware of the issues, explained, “We have carried out an anti-encroachment drive in the area twice but they keep coming back. The solution lies in finding a good place to rehabilitate them, which we are currently working on. A restaurant called Red Rose was shut down for three days for allowing illegal parking in the area, but it has now agreed to make space inside its premises. Such drives need to be continuously repeated as otherwise, the encroachment may keep reoccurring.”

Speaking about the hotel, he added, "We are on a drive to identify and remove illegal constructions across the city. We have already sent the hotel a notice to remove any illegally built floors and we will follow up with all necessary procedures. The number of floors depends on the area a structure is built on. So, usually for an area of 500 yards, it would get permission to built a ground plus three or four floors.”