HMDA to have enforcement department

Hyderabad: Following in the footsteps of the GHMC, the HMDA has proposed to form an enforcement wing, independent of other sections, to take effective punitive action against all kinds of violations, right from demolition of illegal structures to layouts.

The wing will have its head office away from the HMDA office, and will be headed by an IPS or IAS officer, with staff drawn from the various departments and wings.

To begin with, the enforcement wing will have 500 members. Plans are to increase the strength to 1,000 through recruitment. One hundred Home Guards will be sought from the police department, apart from a DSP, five inspectors and 10 sub-inspectors.

A senior official said it had become difficult for the HMDA to demolish unauthorised structures and layouts with the existing staff. 

He said the HMDA had received a lukewarm response from other departments including collectorates and police during the recent demolition drive. “As a result, a HMDA official was forced to stop the demolition drive,” he said. 

The official said that against this backdrop, the HMDA had decided to form an independent enforcement and vigilance wing in order to curtail illegal layouts and unauthorised constructions. The official said that the enforcement staff would act upon all the grievances with regard to violations, besides monitoring the area they are assigned to, on regular basis. 

The team will have a DSP rank official, and officials drawn from town planning, engineering, fire, forest, irrigation, lakes, health, legal, IT, electricity, and related wings. 

“The task of bringing down illegal structures will be assigned to the team which may be formed immediately after the elections,” the official added.