HYDERABAD: Residents of Vidyuth Nagar,
BHEL MIG Employees Co-operative Society, Ramachandrapuram, have been fighting an intense battle for close to a decade for 12.5 acres of expansive open space.
Despite the courts ruling in their favour, they have been unable to rescue this land parcel from encroachers, who have taken away a massive seven per cent (of the total 10 per cent) of open space allotted.
Last week, residents filed a complaint with
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the latest in a series, against the construction of a house on a 150 sq yard space mapped as open space in the original layout.
“The original plan of the area comprises 1,773 approved plots. Over time, an additional 155 plots were created and sold, illegally. Commercial and
residential structures have come up on these plots,” said environmental activist
Thakur Rajkumar Singh, who is also a resident of the locality.
The colony has lost a chunk of its lung space and been reduced to another concrete jungle.
TIMES VIEW:Pollution levels in Hyderabad have been on a steep rise. To add to that is the water crisis that comes back to haunt the city each time temperatures start to soar. Given the magnanimity of the situation, it is important that we collectively as a society, government bodies and citizens, work towards preserving all available limited green space that we have, in sanctuaries and national parks as well as in cities, to avoid any massive calamity.