The other day, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao made a bold statement before the media that his government would start demolishing all illegal constructions that came up on various nalas and tanks in the city that resulted in inundation of several colonies in the recent rains.
There are over 28,000 buildings that came up on nalas, besides hundreds of apartments and houses in the tank beds.
“Irrespective of whether they belong to corporators, officials, MLAs, MP or even ministers, we will not spare them and demolish them ruthlessly,” he told media.
However, it is easier said than done. Most of these buildings, particularly apartments, convention centres and function halls that came up on nalas or in the tank beds, belong to either political leaders or real estate dealers backed by politicians.
It is true that most of these leaders had the patronage of the previous TDP and the Congress governments and the GHMC authorities minted money by giving them permissions left, right and the centre.
Now, almost all these leaders, barring a few, have joined the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi. And the GHMC authorities are as corrupt now as they were in the past.
The TRS government itself has regularised these illegal constructions through building and layout regularisation schemes.
So, the question is whether KCR can demolish all these 28,000-odd buildings. It requires tremendous political will power to take up the job and it is sure many of them would move the court and get the stay orders.
At the most, the GHMC authorities target poor people living in slum areas along the nalas and evacuate them and do not touch the rich and mighty.
