Telangana: State to treat GO 111 area as multipurpose zone

HYDERABAD: In a bonanza to the landowners in 84 villages hitherto covered under GO 111, the Telangana state government will grant permission to whatever development activity – residential, commercial, multipurpose — that they choose to take up.

The entire area is now under the classification of a conservation zone. Highly-placed sources told Deccan Chronicle that the municipal authorities in the respective areas would accept and approve applications for change of land use with immediate effect, treating this as a multipurpose zone.

“It will be as early as a week to 10 days that the applications for change of land use will be entertained,” the sources pointed out.

While different zones have been demarcated in the master plan of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, related activity alone would be permitted.

The entire area of 540 sq-km covering 84 villages, which is almost equivalent to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area, has no such classification so far and growth is highly regulated on paper at least.

The government seems to be in no mood to wait to prepare a master plan for the new area as this would be time-consuming. Instead, the government will allow a change of land use as the first step for the initiation of development activities.

It would launch immediate works for checking the water contamination of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar. “The developers will take some time to come up with plans and seek approvals. By that time, we will complete the basic protection works,” a senior MA&UD official said.

The government, it is learnt, will construct ring bunds, one of about 99 km and another of around 40 km, to prevent the flow of contaminated water into the water bodies and build sewage treatment plants at critical points, to begin with.