Had Municipal Building Tribunal been constituted there would be no need for HYDRAA: FGG

The government had not appointed a Chairman and technical members to the Tribunal even after promising the same to the High Court, Forum for Good Governance wrote to Chief Minister

Forum for Good Governance (FGG) has noted that a functioning Municipal Building Tribunal would have prevented the need for the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) which has been constituted as the enforcement authority of building rules and other legal provisions pertaining to urban development.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, president of FGG M. Padmanabha Reddy said the tribunal was constituted on paper in the year 2016, with the objective of controlling the unauthorised constructions in the initial stage itself and for speedy disposal of cases related to buildings.

However, the tribunal has not been functional since then as chairperson and technical members have nto been appointed for the past eight years.

Unauthorized constructions are seriously affecting the planned development of the cities in the State causing serious problems to the community at large, the letter noted. Whenever the municipal authorities issue notices for stopping the unauthorised constructions the persons concerned are approaching courts and getting stay orders.

The civil society organisation filed a public interest litigation in the High Court in 2019 seeking appointment of the required members, and it was disposed on April 27, 2022 as the government counsel had assured that the appointments would be made within a period of four weeks from the day.

“Unfortunately it is two-and-a-half years over and there is no action from government to make the Tribunal functional by appointing Chairperson and Technical members, it amounts to contempt of Court,” the letter noted.

Referring the constitution of HYDRAA in the recent times and the political controversies surrounding it, Mr. Reddy mentioned that had the tribunal been constituted immediately after the amendment to the GHMC Act, 1955, there would not have been any need for HYDRAA.

A number of representations on behalf of the Forum for constitution of the tribunal have gone unheeded, he said, and added that there should not be any problem in finding the members, as the High Court had suggested names of three retired judges for appointment as chairperson.

Published - November 15, 2024 08:51 pm IST