People flout building rules in Shamshabad

HYDERABAD: Ahead of Gaganpahad, in areas overseen by the panchayat officer and HMDA, there are reports of rampant illegal construction and gross violation of building regulations. Shamshabad is a hotbed for property buyers with the current rate being about Rs 1 lakh per square yard along the main road and between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 in the interiors. Several complaints of unauthorised constructions and irregularities are lying with the panchayat office, most of it unattended.

Shamshabad houses the world's fifth biggest airport. A majority of convention halls, hotels and other commercial establishments have mushroomed in and around this area. A few colonies have also come up here.

There are two major issues at play here. The first is illegal constructions-illegal floors, high deviations, no mandatory parking space as stipulated. The second issue, that is equally disturbing, is the huge expanse of unauthorised layouts that is spread across acres.

A majority of the illegal structures have been identified in Rallaguda,  Madhuranagar, RB Nagar and Brindavan Colony, Adarshanagar.

Mr Chakradhar Reddy, a resident of Shamshabad explains, “A prime part of Shamshabad, that is Madhuranagar falls under GO–111 area, where constructions have been stalled. While RB Nagar is a HUDA layout, rest is under the gram panchayat.  Shamshabad is spread across 6600 plus acres and it is populated by over 1 lakh people.

“Madhura Nagar and RB Nagar are considered to be the Banjara hills of Shamshabad. Despite a construction ban in place, there are numerous residences, commercial units that are being built in these localities; it takes 2-3 months for the panchayat office to look into one complaint. Sometimes officials attending a particular complaint is transferred and the investigation is left mid-way. Most of the building plans in the locality are unapproved.”

He further added, “Due to the direct connectivity between Shamshabad and Outer Ring Road, the PVNR highway with 6 lanes and 20-minute travel to Banjara and Jubilee Hills, Shamshabad has become a preferred locality. The area has a decent connectivity to Ghatkesar, Gachibowli and Bengaluru highway as well. Another 6-lane carriageway is under construction from Aram Ghar to Shamshabad.”

Meanwhile the executive officer of the Panchayat office, Shamshabad who took charge on June 1st, said, “We have severe staff constraints. There is no special staff or team in the Panchayat office to identify illegal buildings. The civic body consist of workers for sanitation, drinking water and other works, a total of  20 members. The office has no technical staff to control building violations.”

Defying norms

• A survey done by a government appointed consultant  in 2012 , identified 1,000 unauthorised constructions, of which  723 unauthorised constructions, all above ground+three floors, are in Shamshabad
• Today, the number of illegal buildings have doubled
• According to a source, in the HMDA jurisdiction alone, there are over 44 engineering colleges that have violated building and layout norms
• According to official estimates, there are about one lakh illegal structures
• Buildings with illegally constructed  additional floors, have come up in Nizampet, Manikonda, Pragatinagar, Poppalguda, Boduppal, Shamshabad, Medipally, Narsingi, Bachupally, Nagaram and Dammaiguda

The Gram Panchayat rule book says:

• As per rules, a gram panchayat can permit buildings with ground-plus-two floors
• Taller structures have to seek permissions from the HMDA
• It is alleged that the  majority of builders who take ground-plus-two floor  permissions from the panchayat go on to add more floors and convert the buildings into residential apartments, without of course bothering to take any further permissio

Ghatkesar, kesara no exception
Ghatkesar and Kesara, the two areas that are under the control of HMDA face a similar situation. The municipal body has failed to curb the menace of growing unauthorized concrete structures in the locality.

Commissioner of HMDA Mr.  T Chiranjeevulu, explained, “Over 848 villages are located on the fringes of Greater Hyderabad, which are under the Panchayat local bodies.The illegal constructions are rampant due to its proximity to the city.  The local bodies are supposed to keep an eye on the increasing built-up area. But with only 40 staffers at HMDA dealing with town planning for the entire area, how is this even possible?”  HMDA has delegated powers to   the local bodies to penalize building regulation violators.