Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net
Hyderabad: Residents of Hyderabad’s Shaikpet step out every morning into streets that once promised the calm of a suburban retreat. But the same streets today echo with the sounds of construction, chaos and growing fear. Skyscrapers rise where ponds once shimmered. Cracked roads wind through overcrowded colonies. Drainage lines overflow. The air smells faintly of cement and frustration.
Builders in Hyderabad are allegedly flourishing as the real estate industry is on the rise every day, with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) approving constructions left, right and centre, reportedly overlooking the rules.
Hyderabad today is the fourth most populous city in India. Its urbanisation began in the 1970s with the onset of the Housing Urban Development Authority (HUDA) project. It has been expanding ever since, with a boom in the construction industry.
The people of Shaikpet have had enough.
After years of alleged inaction, neglect and silence from civic authorities, over 5,000 residents have come together in what may be one of Hyderabad’s most powerful citizen-led revolts in recent memory. They have filed a formal complaint with the Director of Vigilance & Enforcement, demanding a high-level investigation into alleged illegal constructions, benami (proxy-owned) properties and corrupt town planning officials in the GHMC Circle 18.
But the story is not merely about buildings. It is about lives, which are disturbed, endangered and ignored.
Lakes Turned Into Landfills
“Hyderabad had more than 100 lakes and over 800 ponds. Now, many of them have been filled up, encroached upon and replaced with concrete structures,” says a local environmental activist.
The GHMC, residents allege, has been complicit, approving constructions “left, right and centre” while overlooking rules and regulations.
Neighborhood at Breaking Point
One neighbourhood feeling the full weight of this unchecked growth is Shaikpet, which is nestled in the bustling Jubilee Hills constituency. Once quiet, it is now a cautionary tale of overdevelopment gone wrong.
Part of the Jubilee Hills Colonies Forum, which claims to represent over 300 colonies, the Surya Nagar Welfare Association has witnessed repeated civic tragedies unfold. Incidents of fires, floods, building collapses and road accidents have been reported within months of each other.
The residents blame it on the mushrooming of unauthorised high-rises, which are often 7-8 storeys tall, constructed on tiny plots without fire clearances, parking space or legal setbacks.
“Shaikpet is turning into a concrete jungle built on bribes,” alleges Asif Sohail Hussain, president of the Surya Nagar Colony Welfare Association and the Jubilee Hills Constituency Colonies Forum.
A civic activist and philanthropist, he has emerged as the voice of a community struggling to be heard.
“Infrastructure is collapsing under the pressure, and legal residents are paying the price with choked sewage lines, water shortages and blocked emergency access,” he alleged.
Residents say they did not stay silent. They wrote letters, submitted complaints and held meetings. But their appeals to the GHMC and other departments led nowhere.
Some claim they were intimidated for raising their voices. “False” FIRs were allegedly filed against a few residents. It was an attempt, they believe, to scare them into silence.
But instead of giving up, the community rallied. Around 5,000 residents recently filed a formal complaint with A. R. Srinivas, director of Vigilance & Enforcement, Government of Telangana.
They have demanded criminal action and a vigilance probe against the assistant city planner and the section officer of GHMC Circle 18, accusing them of enabling illegal constructions and accumulating benami assets through relatives and proxies.
Their demands include criminal prosecution of the officials under anti-corruption laws, seizure and audit of benami properties linked to their families, immediate demolition of unauthorised buildings, suspension and departmental inquiry into GHMC’s Town Planning Wing (Circle 18) and GHMC instructions to sub-registrars to halt registration of illegal properties.
‘This Is About Every Taxpayer’
“This is a fight for every taxpayer who believes that the law is not for sale. If we stay silent now, tomorrow our entire city will be sold, plot by plot and floor by floor,” says Sohail.
According to residents and activists, this is not an isolated issue. They claim of “illegal construction” has spread throughout the Jubilee Hills constituency, allegedly enabled by a builder-babu (bureaucrats) nexus that disregards public safety, environmental concerns and zoning laws.
“Crores in bribes are fuelling these illegal approvals,” says one resident, “with benami properties allegedly held in the names of relatives and proxies.”
Waiting on a Promise
In the backdrop of all this stands a promise. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has declared that his government will have “zero tolerance” toward illegal and unlawful activities. His recent initiatives to protect lakes and recover encroached land were widely praised.
The residents of Shaikpet are hoping for the same.
“Are corrupt officers more powerful than the chief minister’s mandate for reform?” asks a retired GHMC engineer who now resides in Surya Nagar.
He, like others, believes the CM’s mission may be under threat from “corrupt elements within the system”.
The community is not resting its hopes solely on promises. Legal experts monitoring the case say that if the GHMC fails to act, the residents are prepared to take the battle to the Telangana High Court, and if necessary, to the Supreme Court of India, through Public Interest Litigations (PILs) on grounds of public safety and environmental impact.
With volumes of evidence, this could become a landmark legal case, not only for Hyderabad, but for cities across India allegedly grappling with urban corruption.
More than 5,000 citizens have come together, united by a common cause. Their complaint is a cry for justice, a shield for their homes and a stand against a system they believe has failed them.
The complaint of the residents of Shaikpet is in the youth who lost his life in a recent accident, the elderly navigating broken roads and families striving for a safe and legal place to live.
They say enough is enough. The question that looms large over Hyderabad: will action be taken or silence lay the foundation for deeper corruption?