Railways lose land, move court on GHMC

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, Jan. 25: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Friday bulldozed compound walls of the South Central Railway’s quarters on the road from Sangeet to Tarnaka, much to the dismay and anger of railway officials. It also felled more than half-a-dozen fully grown trees along the road without getting permission from the forest department.

A row had been on between the GHMC and the SCR over the ownership of the property which came in the way of road widening.

Though the land is under the possession of the railways, the civic body had been claiming that it was owned by the state government and had refused to pay the Rs 140 crore compensation sought by the SCR.

On Friday morning, the GHMC brought the debate to an abrupt end by rolling in bulldozers and demolishing the structures, shocking SCR officials living in the quarters. The GHMC needs 80,000 square yards of land on this stretch for road widening.On getting news of the demolition, SCR officials including the chief engineer rushed to the spot.

However, top GHMC officials slipped away tactfully at the right moment leaving their juniors to deal with the issue. Despite trying several times, SCR officials were unable to get the GHMC Commissioner, Dr C.V.S.K. Sarma, or the Additional Commissioner, Mr Dhanunjay Reddy, on the phone.

The SCR spokesman, Mr Krishnaiah, told this correspondent that the GHMC action amounted to cheating. “How can they do it when the land dispute has not reached any conclusion?” he asked. In a press release issued late in the evening, the SCR castigated the GHMC demolition as illegal and arbitrary and added that the entire stretch of property had been with the railways for more than 100 years.

However, Dr Sarma said that the SCR did not hand over the land despite notices being issued. “We had warned that if the portion was not handed over by January 24, we will take action,” he said.

Mr Dhanunjaya Reddy also added that the GHMC had submitted relevant documents proving that the railways had been given the land on lease by the state government. “The lease expired in 1979,” he said.

The GHMC’s indiscriminate felling of trees on the road also evoked shock and surprise. What is more, the civic body is planning to cut more trees in the area in the coming days. “We have written to the forest department but I have to check whether we got a reply,” said the GHMC Chief Horticulturist, Mr Konda Reddy.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh High Court expressed dismay over the land dispute between the GHMC and the SCR and asked the latter to file a criminal complaint and a private complaint against the GHMC commissioner.

When the SCR counsel, Poluri Bhaskar, told the court about the bulldozing of the wall by the GHMC, Justice G. Raghuram asked, “Why didn’t you seek the help of the Railway Protection Force?”