Congress condemns forced eviction of slum dwellers by GHMC

Hyderabad: The residents of Kamala Nagar Basthi in Yousufguda have alleged that the GHMC authorities have forcibly evicted them from their dwellings to acquire land for construction of double bed room houses.

The residents have claimed that 60 families, belonging to SC, BC and minority communities, have been living in the Kamala Nagar Basthi for over 35 years. However, they alleged that the GHMC authorities misled the High Court and illegally demolished their dwellings to acquire their land through forced eviction.

According to Kamala Nagar Basthi Welfare Association president Shaik Hyder and General Secretary V. Vijay, the local residents approached the High Court when the GHMC first tried to demolish their dwellings in June this year. They said, "We were shocked that the GHMC has misled the court by stating it was not carrying out any demolitions and removing only a few encroachments that have come up on the foothpaths of Khairtabad Ganesh route. Based on GHMC's petition Justice A.V. Sesha Sai in Writ Petition No. 28331 of 2017 dismissed out plea with the remarks, "It is submitted by the learned Standing Counsel that the GHMC authorities are removing encroachments on the footpaths only but they are not touching the dwelling houses. For the same reasons, the Writ Petition is disposed of."

Residents said they were shocked at the way GHMC misled the High Court to demolish their dwellings. "Our basthi is in Yousufguda and it is several kilometres away from Khairtabad Bada Ganesh. This is highly shameful that the authorities have lied before the court to get possession of our dwellings," they said. They also said they were not even included in the list of beneficiaries for double bed room houses for weaker sections. "Most of us are poor daily wage earners and do not understand the tricks played by the authorities with us. We tried in vain for the last 35 years to get pattas for dwellings and finally the GHMC has tricked us and the court to evict us from our houses. Is this justice?" they asked.

Meanwhile, the local residents met TPCC Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin who took them to Telangana Congress president Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy to submit a representation. Nizamuddin assured the local residents that the Congress party would fight to get justice for them. "We are not against construction of 2BHK houses for poor. But forced eviction of slum dwellers without even including them in the list of beneficiaries of 2BHK houses is completely unacceptable. This is not the first instance of this kind in the city. It is sounds strange that poor slum dwellers are being left shelter less to construct houses for other poor people. Authorities are going all out to help the contractors get possession of the land. We will expose all the details soon," he said.