Hyderabad: Residents demand removal of shops from Jubilee Hills areas

HYDERABAD: Ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, residents of Jubilee Hills Road Nos. 56, 59, 44 and 45 are demanding that the government remove the commercial establishments in their locality and not allow new ones.
The residents say that the areas which have been declared as commercial hubs near their residential localities should be monitored in order to avoid space crunch and noise pollution.Boutiques, pubs, coffee shops and car decor shops are some of the commercial establishments that have sprung up on Jubilee Hills Road Nos. 44 and 45 in the last few years.
The residents say that lack of fire safety measures, rash driving, traffic congestion, space crunch, poor sanitation and sound pollution are their primary concerns. “Having seen the city change for the last 50-odd years leaves me feeling frustrated that the present government and the officials are absolutely blind to the woes of the residents of Jubilee Hills,” said Sangeeta Varma, a resident of Jubilee Hills Road No. 56. “Innumerable representations have been made to the GHMC and the HMDA during the last few years, be it via letters, in person, through tweets, or filing of cases over the point that Road Nos. 56, 44, 54, 59 and 60 of Jubilee Hills are residential localities. Despite that, the GHMC has permitted commercial establishments to set up shops on these roads, which is in complete violation of all GHMC norms,” said Ann Oommen, another resident of Jubilee Hills.
Several residents of Jubilee Hills Road Nos. 44 and 56 said that they will vote for the party that will solve this problem.
GHMC officials said that they have served notices to the shop owners and that several commercial establishments have approached the court. “We have served notices to the commercial establishments. Though they have approached the court, our legal team will counter them. The residents who approached us also know that inspections were taken up based on their complaints,” said Seva Eslavath, GHMC deputy commissioner, Jubilee Hills circle.
“Irrespective of the structure/ establishment (residential or commercial), we have demolished 35 buildings in Ayyapa Society,” read a statement issued by GHMC, when asked about commercial establishments in residential areas.