The MRO said that 32 illegal colonies were constructed on the said lands, and that demolition was the government's order.
Bandlaguda Mandal Revenue Officer M Karunakar on Tuesday denied any disrespect to any religious text or structure during the demolition works of 23 illegal residences at Ghousenagar early on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, Revenue Department officials had swooped on Ghousenagar, a slum in Bandlaguda mandal, and demolished 23 houses. The surprise action left over 100 persons homeless. The residents claim that they have been living in the area since the last 12-15 years in pucca houses, and that they have been paying taxes electricity bills regularly.
Sunday's demolition was the start of implementing the government proposed plan to construct one thousand houses for its various housing schemes.
Among the demolished properties, a madarsa by the name of Madarsa Abu Bakr Siddiq was also demolished. The rector of the madarsa told INN that the authorities did not even allow the staff to bring out copies of the Holy Quran, and that copies of the Holy Text have been buried in the rubble.
However, today, Karunakar told INN that he was unaware of the former residents of the colony paying any municipal tax, or regularly paying bills for the usage of electricity. He also claimed that he was unaware of how long the residents had been living in the demolished houses.
The MRO said that 32 illegal colonies were constructed on the lands in these 3 Survey Numbers, and that if the government passes orders to demolish these illegal colonies, the Revenue department will go ahead and implement the order.
He said that Sunday's action by the Revenue department only demolished 7 houses and 6 boundary walls constructed in about 2,000 square yards.
Karunakar said that former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had laid the foundation stone for the construction of a colony for weaker sections in 2008, and that the land had been allotted to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation at that time.
He said that the GHMC was handed over the documents pertaining to the land, which is part of the 61,710 square yards in Survey Number 82.
Karunakar revealed that the lands under Survey Number 82, 83 and 84 are surplus land, as declared in 1988, and were handed over to the Tahsildar at that time. He said that there are 73,143 square metres of land in Survey Number 83, on which a school, a community hospital, an overhead water tank and colonies for weaker section have already been constructed.
Meanwhile, about 100 activists of the Communist Party of India, along with the persons who were left homeless due to Sunday's demolition, staged a dharna outside the Bandlaguda MRO office. The activists were led by CPI local leader Mohammed Ahmed.
CPI Rajya Sabha member Syed Aziz Pasha told INN on the phone that he would be staging a dharna outside the Hyderabad district collector's office on Wednesday. He said that the protest would be held to demand the rehabilitation of the displaced persons. He said that the displaced persons must be immediately rehabilitated in a colony close to the demolished house which has been constructed and is ready to be occupied.
Courtesy: INN News