Hyderabad crackdown: 27 town planners shifted; bribe, illegal buildings trigger action; GHMC sets new rules

HYDERABAD: The town planning wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has come in for scrutiny in the wake of several complaints of corruption against assistant city planners and town planning supervisors.In the latest development, GHMC transferred 27 circle-level officials, including 13 ACPs within the town planning wing, to other zones. However, sources say instead of mere transfers, stricter measures are necessary to address misconduct.The civic body has been flooded with complaints over encroachments and illegal constructions at Prajavani. During this programme, held every Monday, at least 50% of grievances lodged by citizens were related to the town planning wing. Last month, a city planner in the Secunderabad zone was arrested for allegedly demanding bribes to process occupancy certificates for apartments. A few months ago, 27 engineers were sacked for their involvement in corruption.The newly released standard operating procedure (SOP) by the GHMC commissioner establishes a hierarchy for unsealing properties. The protocol specifies that the authority to unseal must come from a position superior to the initial sealing officer. When a deputy commissioner implements a seal, the authority to remove it rests exclusively with the zonal commissioner.Likewise, for properties sealed by a zonal commissioner, only the GHMC commissioner possesses the power to authorise their reopening. Deviation from SOPs will result in action, the GHMC warned.