Telangana HC Rules Recovery of Demolition Costs for Illegal Structures Mandatory

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court directed the GHMC to recover expenses incurred for demolishing illegal structures from violators instead of using public funds for the purpose. Justice NV Shravan Kumar noted that it was a legal obligation to bear such expenses.

The judge was dealing with a petition filed by Dachepally Chandrababu, who complained that the GHMC had failed to take action against encroachers who had encroached on the road at No. 10 Street, Tarnaka, and built a temple after the flyover leading to Osmania University.

Petitioner’s lawyer, Vijay Gopal, informed the court that the civic authorities had issued legal notices and subsequently would not proceed further to initiate proceedings unless the writ petition was filed as the complaints/representations made to the civic authorities were ignored.

The lawyer stated that if the authorities demolish the unauthorized structures on the property in question, the violators have the opportunity to restart the construction of the unauthorized structures, as they will not be affected in any way since the demolition costs are covered by public money.

The court directed the GHMC to examine the complaint and demolish the illegal portion if the allegations of illegality are proven to be true. The court ruled that those who built the unauthorized part should be reimbursed for the expenses incurred for this demolition.