Demolition drive stalled by MIM Karwan MLA Kausar Moinuddin

Hyderabad: The demolition of a 30-foot compound wall at Road No. 3, Banjara Hills, was a scene of high drama on Monday, with MIM Karwan MLA Kausar Moinuddin obstructing efforts to demolish it.

GHMC officials present at the site confirmed that the MLA abused labourers and drivers engaged in pulling down the wall, and tried to stop workers pulling down a gate which was on the demolition list. He warned the officials not to demolish any structure, said a GHMC city planner who was present there.

The area does not fall in Mr Moinuddin’s Assembly constituency nor does he live there. His intervention followed a phone call from the owner of a property who was affected by the demolition and who claimed to be a friend of MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. 

The GHMC was acting on a complaint from one Jhansi Sureddy, who complained that the entry to her property was being obstructed by the wall.

A senior official from the GHMC central zone explained that in 1980, the corporation had granted building permission to a group housing society for a layout consisting of five or six plots. Subsequently, the owners sought individual permission by sub-dividing the plots and built a separate compound wall. 

This meant it was no longer group housing and the internal road becomes a public road and was automatically vested with the GHMC.

“But, the owners who had taken individual permission were opposing the demolition of the compound wall built by them,” he said.

He said that Ms Sureddy complained that the owners of the individual houses had refused to demolish the wall, though the approach road was the only access to her property. 

“After checking with the head office, GHMC standing council and a physical inspection, it was found that the wall is illegal, as there is no layout for the location,” he said.

Action has been taken under Sections 402 and 405 of the municipal Act for intruding onto a public road. The GHMC had disposed of the petition submitted by the individual owner not to demolish the wall.

Ms Sureddy said she owned a 6,000 sq.yd property and the wall was blocking the only access to it. “We have been negotiating with the individual house owners for over six years and since they wouldn’t remove the wall I filed a complaint with the GHMC. My plot has the required permission from the GHMC,” she said. Asked to explain his resistance to the demolition, Mr Moinuddin said, “The corporation is at fault. They should not demolish a private wall. The owners of the property had built it and are maintaining it.”