Town planners help themselves, illegally?

By K.V.S. Madhav

HYDERABAD, JULY 21. It's a classic case of the fence eating the crop. The Town Planning Department of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is in the midst of yet another controversy. This time, to help its own ilk!

The building of the Institute of Town Planners' (ITP) regional chapter coming up at Brahmanwadi, near the Begumpet flyover, stands out as a testimony for gross violation of all rules, right from acquisition of the land to construction.

Some seven years ago, the State Government allotted 826 sq. yards of land beside the Begumpet flyover on a nominal rate basis for the ITP. However, the town planners managed to get permission from the MCH in December, 1999, for constructing the building in 1,198.88 sq.yds !

But, here lies the hitch. While the Government allotment was only for 826 square yards, the MCH permission was for 1,198.88 sq. yards. Obviously, about 373 sq. yards of Government land in excess was taken over by the ITP and the plans were approved at a breakneck speed, in two days flat by the town planning section, whose officials were the members of the ITP.

While the construction was going on, the ITP represented to the Government last year for allotment of the more land, perhaps to `legalise' the `encroached' piece of Government land. The State Cabinet, too, gave the approval for alienation of 378 sq. yards of extra land in December last.

"The ITP office-bearers who hold responsible positions in the town planning section seemed to have deliberately kept the plan approval under wraps and sought more land on the plea that the initially sanctioned 826 sq. yds. was insufficient," alleges the Practising Architects Association (PAA) president, Mr. A.B. Reddy.

It is not that the land was acquired dubiously. The ITP had also constructed an extra floor deviating from the original sanction. "Very conveniently, they applied for regularisation of the same under the Building Regularisation Scheme," Mr. Reddy charges.

Interestingly, the then Joint Director of town planning section of the MCH, Mr. Satish Chandra, (who is also an ITP office- bearer), gave the construction permission. Incidentally, he is the Chief City Planner now.

When contacted for a clarification on the whole episode, Mr. Satish Chandra maintained that he had received a complaint about the building site and was "looking into the matter." Thereafter, he was unavailable for comment despite persistent efforts.

The Additional Commissioner, MCH, Mr. Karikal Valaven, admits that "certain anomalies were detected during an inspection some time ago". Consequent to the Cabinet decision for alienation of the `extra land' the MCH had fixed the value of 378 square yards at Rs. 28 lakhs. This is to be paid by the ITP.

The construction of an extra floor, `encroachment' of the Government land and its subsequent `legalisation' apart, another controversy is brewing. Interestingly, the MCH has donated Rs. 15 lakhs to the ITP for the building construction. The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) had also reportedly donated Rs. 7 lakhs.

"When the construction itself is illegal, how can the MCH and HUDA give away money like that?" This is the question posed by the PAA members. Apparently, the MCH top brass was kept in the dark by the town planners and efforts were now on to get to the bottom of the matter. The damage control exercise has already begun. As the first step, the MCH has stopped the letter fixing value of the "extra land" from being despatched to the Government.

The question now is: will the MCH deal with the ITP in the same way it tackles encroachers and violators of building rules ?

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Section  : Southern States
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