HYDERABAD: One whole decade has passed, yet, 17 families whose houses were demolished for the development of Jubilee Bus station are still struggling without a permanent roof over their heads. Now, another 60 families residing in flats constructed beside the bus station, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), are at threat of being thrown out of their houses.
The JNNURM flats, a total of 160 houses, were constructed in Gandhinagar by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government to accommodate those displaced by the development of the bus station. However, no one was officially granted permission to start living in them and the apartments were left unoccupied for a long while.
Recently, officials, who seem to have woken up from their deep slumber, realised that all the 160 houses have been occupied. Though there is still no water or power connection to these houses, all the 160 flats have been occupied. Some people have even built rooms on the terraces of the buildings and started living in them. Now, it has come to light that only 84 families living in the buildings are actual intended beneficiaries. A letter dated July 7, 2018, sent by the Secunderabad Tehsildar to the RDO claims an inquiry was conducted on the occupants. It was found that 60 families living in the building were illegal occupants. Tenants of another 16 houses are unknown as the doors remained locked.
The letter, accessed by Express, mentions that a Basthi Sabha has to be conducted to remove all the 60 illegal occupants and handover the houses to genuine beneficiaries. A total of 376 families, who lost their houses to the bus station, were to be accommodated in these 160 flats apart from houses constructed in the same area under Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana(VAMBAY) and Low Income Housing(LIG) housing.
As per the letter, 17 of these 376 displaced families are yet to be allocated houses.
“It has been 10 long years and I am still struggling to get my right. I am forced to live in a rented accommodation. After paying the rent, we have barely enough left to feed the family,” says Ch Vijaya Lakshmi, one of the women. When contacted, Secunderabad RDO K Chandrakala claimed she would take prompt action.”
When contacted, K Chandrakala RDO of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, said, “We will cross verify the report submitted by Secunderabad Tahsildar with the original list of displaced people and take necessary action. We will vacate illegal occupants from the JNNURM flats.” If the letter is put into action, it would be ‘justice delayed but delivered’ for 17 families struggling in rented houses.