Illegal buildings in SCB area to be demolished

HYDERABAD: The Secunderabad Cantonment Board has decided to demolish illegal constructions in its jurisdiction after sending repeated notices to the owners. As part of their drive, SCB officials have demolished three illegal constructions of Imperial function hall at the Sikh Village and two others in Trimurthy Colony on June 23 and 24. “A list of another 45 illegal constructions has been made which will be demolished next week, if owners do not demolish themselves,” said S Balakrishna, chief executive officer, SCB.SCB officials had earlier sent notices to owners of the illegal constructions, the first notice in December 2010, second in March and the final in May but no owner made any response. “Moreover, some owners even went to the courts and got stay orders,” added Balakrishna. He said land owners who have encroached upon open spaces meant for parks in about 295 colonies in Cantonment limits will be asked to leave. As per SCB rules, 40 per cent of land in every colony has to be left open for garden space. But, over the years, those spaces were reportedly encroached by some people.In a recent meeting with eight elected ward members, local MLA Shankar Rao, SCB officials and the AP sub-area commander, Major General Digvijay Singh resolved to act against encroachments. While demolition of new structures coming up in earmarked spaces would be taken up immediately, legal opinion would be sought on the issue of razing down already existing structures. It was also decided the Cantonment board would take up construction of compound walls and fencing around its open spaces to protect them from further encroachments.However, K Pratapa Reddy, resident of Trimurthy Colony said, “We have been living in this area for more than 20 years. Of course there is no legal sanctity for houses in the Cantonment area. But, how can they send me a notice and ask us to vacate? We request both the state government and authorities to legalise our constructions.”The SCB is the biggest Cantonment area in the country. Its population is about four lakh with 8 wards and 295 colonies. It is administrated by the Centre according to the Cantonment Act, 2006 which says all land is under the possession of the Board and no individual has power to own land and construct buildings without its permission.Jumpanna Pratap, former vice-president, SCB said they had sent a proposal a couple of years back to the Defence ministry for minimum land criteria or relaxation of land ceilings on allotted lands. “As per the Cantonment Act 2006, the SCB can give permissions for new building bye-laws similar to those in surrounding municipalities but the Board has not given permission so far,” Jumpanna Pratap said. He admitted there are residents who have been residing in the area for more than two decades. “The SCB has no problems with them. But others who started living here in the last five to seven years have been constructing buildings illegally,” the CEO said.