Only honest falling prey to corruption within GHMC

Hyderabad: Most of the Anti-Corruption Bureau cases being filed against GHMC officers in the high growth areas of Serilingampally Circles 11 and 12, are the outcome of those who follow rules, but are being harassed for bribes. ACB sleuths, meanwhile, have expressed suspicion that less than three per cent of the corruption cases are reaching them.

ACB registered cases against 15 GHMC personnel in the two circles in five years. All of them have been suspended.

Ranga Reddy ACB deputy superintendent of police M. Prabhakar said most of the complaints were from those who had obtained building approvals but were repeatedly harassed by officials and staff from the town planning and other wings of the GHMC for bribes. Those who bribed the GHMC personnel got away with several irregularities.

“It is not only Serilin-gampally. We have registered cases against town planning officials and even deputy commissioner rank officials in Malkajgiri and LB Nagar, too, after we caught them red-handed,” he said. 

He said that most of the officials and town-planning staff used to demand bribe in genuine cases by threatening building owners with consequences.

“We are getting complaints from only genuine people who suffered at the hands of the officials. In cases of illegal constructions, the builders collude with the officials. We get very few complaints against actual corruption,” he said.

An official from GHMC said that erring personnel depute private teams apart from the staff from sanitation and revenue wings as informers.

“Town planning officials demand Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh for each floor and collect the money when slabs are laid in illegal constructions.”

He said that as per GHMC rules, if any town-planning official identifies illegal structures he should impose a fine. In a few cases, the town-planning staff threatened people with three times the normal penalty to browbeat them.

Game of give and take
Officials lay the trap to rope in those indulging in illegal construction

How it operates

• Erring staff hires ‘spotters’ to identify illegal constructions.
• Personnel threaten builder with heavy fines and collect big pay-offs ranging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per floor.
• Those with all permissions are harrassed by officials seeking unwanted details.
• Each time a new employee arrives at the site. He wants to see copies of all permissions. Till they are produced, construction is halted.
• In cases deviations, the staff demands bribe. If the builder refuses, they demolish the deviation along with one or two major pillars causing huge losses to the builder.

Circle of graft

• In September 2016, Circle-12 deputy executive engineer M. Peer Singh’s house was raided by the ACB and found assets worth rs 7cr which was more than his actual income.
• In August 2016, Circle-12 town planning ACP A. Santosh Venu was caught by the ACB with assets worth Rs 10 crore.
• In April 2016, Circle-12 ACP Srinivas Das and section officer Mehar were suspended for regularising encroachment on a colony park.
• In 2015, some revenue officers and bill collectors from Serilingampally were caught by the special operations team at a mujra. Three tax inspectors and four bill collectors were suspended.