The issue of buildings digressing from the approved building plan is a very serious one, under the jurisdiction of GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation). It is observed that more than half of the buildings under the purview of GHMC have blatantly violated the corresponding rules. These buildings are hence categorized as unauthorized constructions. At this point, it won’t be inappropriate to focus on some salient points of this important matter.
A few of the major deviations that are extensive seen are:
- Adding extra floors to the building without any authorization
- Disobeying rules related to the minimum distance between the structures and walls
- Constructing small rooms in the cellar
- Unapproved penthouses
In several areas of GHMC, there are many five-floor buildings constructed on plots having an area of not more than about 100 square yards. This is a grave violation of the related GHMC building rules.
Alarming levels of Corruption in enforcing arms of town planning:
One more reason for the unchecked rise in illegal constructions is the alarming levels of corruption in the various departments responsible for preventing and controlling illegal construction and enforcing town planning.
- EVDM (Enforcement, Vigilance, and Disaster Management) department. EVDM is just a wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, and it cannot directly take action against buildings going against the rules. But, EVDM is functioning the opposite of that; it is issuing notices to owners, without informing GHMC about the deviations. The support staff of the wing are indulging in open corruption. They are taking bribes and keeping the illegal buildings protected from demolition/penalties.
- GHMC Town Planning Staff This is one point worthy of special mention. The GHMC staff was busy in the last two months of 2023 because of work on assembly elections. As a result of that, officials couldn’t concentrate on the matter of putting a check on unauthorized buildings. Thus, a bigger increase in the number of unapproved buildings was noted for that duration.
- The nexus between bill collectors and builders is contributing to the problem of buildings showing utter disregard for rules. Bill collectors have appointed their private staff to keep track of buildings being constructed against the authorized plans. This staff passes on the information to their bosses, who then get in touch with the builders, and negotiate with them. Eventually, they safeguard the building against any official action, in exchange for financial returns.
- In the past few years, the illegal constructions that have come up in the city under GHMC jurisdiction are well over one lakh. But only around sixty of those were demolished. This subtly highlights the worrisome the corruption levels in GHMC.
- Overall, it can be said that the confidence of both the developers and buyers is high, in terms of ignoring the building rules. These people are assured that if proper care is taken of officials through bribes, buildings can grossly deviate from the original plan. There is no need to be afraid of things like demolitions/legal action.
- Many top officials of the GHMC have admitted that there is a disturbing surge in unlawful constructions and buildings. They add that if the proposed amendments are made to the Registration Act, the menace can be curbed to a significant extent.
We have noticed dozens of newspaper articles on this topic by prominent newspapers of Hyderabad. The topic of building rules violation in GHMC is a vast one that encompasses numerous aspects. The key thing is because of few hundred employees lining their pockets, Brand Hyderabad is getting destroyed. There is a need to urgently correct the issue.
Inputs: From various leading news paper articles