Hyderabad: CM Revanth urged to constitute municipal building tribunal

Forum for Good Governance wrote to CM Revanth Reddy, reminding that the legislation for establishing the tribunal was passed in 2016, but the governing body wasn't constituted till now

Hyderabad: The Forum for Good Governance has written to chief minister A Revanth Reddy, urging the state government to appoint the chairperson and technical members of the municipal building tribunal, which was established in 2016, without anybody to run it.

“Unauthorised constructions are seriously affecting the planned development of the cities in the state causing serious problems to the community at large. Whenever the municipal authorities issue notices for stopping the unauthorised constructions, the concerned persons are approaching courts and getting stay orders,” M Padmanabha Reddy, president of the forum stated in the letter.

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He reminded the chief minister that Forum for Good Governance had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court in 2019 for the appointment of chairperson and technical members, and that The PIL was disposed on April 27, 2022, as the government pleader had assured the court that the tribunal would be constituted within a period of four weeks from the order.

“Unfortunately, two and half years have passed, but there has been no action from the government to make the tribunal functional It amounts to contempt of court,” Reddy underlined.

Noting the recent developments where the Hyderabad Disaster Response Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) has been demolishing illegal structures under the limits of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which has led to serious political controversy, he stated that had the tribunal been constituted immediately after the Act was passed in 2016, there would have been no need for HYDRAA now.

“The High Court has already suggested the names of three retired judges for being appointed as the chairperson of the tribunal, and as such there should not be any problem to constitute the tribunal,” he noted.