HYDERABAD: In a major crackdown on unauthorised villa constructions in Dundigal municipality, about 100 villas were sealed by the Town Planning wing of Dundigal municipality on Saturday, and 160 more are going to be sealed in the next two days.
Eight more villas that were constructed in the prohibited buffer zone of Katwa Cheruvu, Mallampet, are being demolished. Four of them have already been razed to the ground, while demolition of the remaining four villas is under process. Municipal officials have booked criminal cases against the developer of these villas.
On Saturday morning, municipal officials led by Dundigal Municipal Commissioner P Bhogishwarlu descended on the villas — some of them still under construction — developed by Sri Lakshmi Constructions at Mallampet in Dundigal of Medchal-Malkajgiri district and began the process of sealing 260 villas. Till the evening, they sealed about 100 villas and the remaining will be sealed in about two days time.
Some partly paid for
It is learnt that a few individuals have made advance payments to book some of the villas without verifying the details of the layout, or checking if they have approval from the concerned authorities. The market value of each villa, which has an area of 1,500-2,000 square feet, is around Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 1.50 crore.
The villas are being sealed under Section 181(1) of the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, which prohibits unauthorised constructions. The sealing was carried out as per the orders of Medchal-Malkajgiri District Collector S Harish.
ICAD Department identified villas in buffer zone
The eight illegal villas being built on the Full Tank Level/buffer zone of Katwa Cheruvu were identified by the Irrigation and Command Area Development (ICAD) Department, Hyderabad. Speaking to Express, Commissioner Bhogishwarlu said the developer of these villas was constructing them without obtaining the required approval for their layouts or building permission from either Telangana Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) or Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
The developer took up the constructions based on the permission issued by the Gram Panchayat office. A memo was issued to the panchayat secretary for sanctioning the constructions, as he has no authority to do the same, the Commissioner said.
However, 60 more villas constructed by the same developer, just a few metres away from the unauthorised villas, were not touched by the Town Planning wing, as these had obtained the HMDA’s approval. It is learnt that it was officials from DTCP and HMDA who brought the ongoing villa constructions to the notice of the District Collector and urged him to take necessary action.