Tension prevailed in Raidurg Paigah village as officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) And Tax office under police protection, several buildings were demolished to clear the way for the construction of Unity Shopping Center on 5.8 hectares. The demolition The action led to violent protests from affected families.
While residents claim that the land belongs Tanneries in Hyderabadrepresented by Mohammed Mumtaz Ali Khan, the Telangana Leather Industrial Development Corporation (TLIDC) claims that they own the rights to 42 acres of land within the village, including the portion currently occupied by some families.
TLIDC claims ownership
“The corporation is the sole owner of the land and the families living there have no legal claim over it. The demolition was done in response to the mall owners’ request to vacate the dilapidated buildings and other structures on the land so that construction could begin. We had repeatedly asked the families to vacate the site before the demolition,” said Srinivas Naik, vice-chairman and managing director of TLIDC.
Naik pointed out that they had agreed to lease the 5.8 acres in Serilingampally village to the Telangana Trade Promotion Corporation for construction of Unity Mall at a cost of over Rs 200 crore.
Allegation of threats
“A senior official had suggested that we vacate the property. The offer included a cash payment of Rs 50 crore and a 4,000 sq ft plot at another location. However, we rejected the offer as the property has been in our possession for over nine decades and was inherited from our great-grandparents. The matter is currently pending in the Supreme Court and a writ petition has been filed regarding the property. The same official who made the offer to us allegedly threatened us by saying that he would disregard the title of the property and pressurised us to withdraw the offer and threatened us with dire consequences if we did not comply,” said a family member of Hyderabad Tanneries.
No pre-registration: Families
Residents said they were shocked when they were awakened at around 7am by the noise of JCBs destroying their homes.
“There was no prior notice before the demolition work began. The demolition has left us and our small children stranded on the road. We have all the necessary documents and are waiting for the final verdict from the court. In fact, when we enter the survey number in the Dharani portal, it shows as Pattadar Hyderabad Tanneries,” said Mohammed Taheer Ali Khan.
NGOs and citizens should inform government about attacks: Ponnam
Ponnam Prabhakar, Minister for Underprivileged Sections and Transport, on Monday said the government would demolish all illegal constructions in full tank level (FTL) areas in all 33 districts. He added that NGOs and other civil society organisations, who have knowledge of these encroachments, should inform the government about them.
“The sustained fight against HYDRAA encroachments in Greater Hyderabad and its surrounding areas is giving the government a good name and many sections of society are supporting Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy,” he said.
The minister said that there was no feud, nor were HYDRAA’s attacks directed against the properties of the opposition parties.
