Hyderabad: Families affected by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) demolition drive in Bowrampet village, Med-chal-Malkajgiri district, had started thinking of moving into their new villas in a few days. But their dreams have been shattered, said Madhav Reddy, a farmer and one of the 15 landlords who gave land for development to a builder.

“Fifteen families from Bowrampet, all into farming, gave a total of 14.3 acres of land for this venture. In return, the builder promised to hand over villas constructed on 200 sq.yards each. We had no idea about permission issue between the builder and the HMDA until the staff arrived for demolition. They told us we did not pay LRS amount of nearly Rs 1 lakh and so the constructions would be razed,” Mr. Reddy said.

Since each villa costs about Rs 50 lakh, the landlords came forth to pay the LRS amount the same day, but the staff paid no heed and went ahead with the drive, he rued.The landlords complained that the builder did not let them know about the controversy.

HMDA Planning Director K. Purushotham Reddy stated that there were several violations in the venture. “The land is a conservation zone where farming is allowed. Permissions for such ventures should be taken from HMDA and not Gram Panchayat as being claimed by the builder. The builder went to court, which also asked the plot owners to pay Layout Regularisation charges to the metropolitan body,” he said.

According to officials, individuals who bought villas had applied for LRS, while the builder did not pay for the 22 villas, which incidentally were to be given to the landlords. Hence, action was taken as per due process of law, they said.

Meanwhile, the builder, Sananda Reddy, said he would file a suit for damages against the HMDA for razing structures that had permission from the Panchayat office.

“Why are they allowing Panchayats to give permissions that are not under their purview? Like other constructions in Bowrampet, we completed formalities in the Panchayat and went ahead with the construction. Suddenly, HMDA staff land at the site and say the constructions are illegal. Even though some landlords came forward to pay the LRS, authorities razed the buildings,” he said, alleging that eight villas of the 22 that were demolished had applied for LRS and the file was still under consideration.

BJP vice-president Malla Reddy faulted the HMDA staff for demolishing the structures instead of collecting LRS from the landlords. The court did not direct them to demolish structures, he reasoned.