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VMC to launch demolition drive soon
Following the directive of Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is preparing to act on illegal structures in the city. Interestingly, the officials are reportedly searching for fresh illegal structures giving exemption to the structures that have already been identified by Directorate of Country and Town Planning (DCTP) department duri
​Vijayawada: Following the directive of Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is preparing to act on illegal structures in the city. Interestingly, the officials are reportedly searching for fresh illegal structures giving exemption to the structures that have already been identified by Directorate of Country and Town Planning (DCTP) department during its inspection in 2016 due to political pressures.
In a meeting at Secretariat here on Saturday, Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana directed officials to take action on illegal structures in municipalities and municipal corporations from Monday (March 13). A team of DTCP officials identified hundreds of illegal structures statewide during their field level inspection and submitted a report to the Minister.
The VMC town planning officials are contemplating to take up demolition drive in the city soon as per the instructions of the Minister. The VMC has already issued notices to owners of some illegal structures and the process is on. City planner B Srinivasulu told this correspondent that they would demolish illegal structures whether notices were issued or not to the owners.
“It is not compulsory to issue notices before demolition. Once we identify an illegal structure, action will be taken definitely,” he said. The date for beginning the mass demolition drive would be decided by the Commissioner, he said.
However, officials are silent over the illegal structures that identified by DTCP officials last year. The DTCP officials identified over 200 illegal structures and 40 major constructions in some parts of city during their random inspection and suspended two building inspectors and three supervisors of VMC.
Surprisingly, the VMC remained silent over the development and did not take up any mass demolition drive following the suspensions. Instead, it confined to sporadic demolitions of illegal structures.
On other hand, some MLAs and ruling party corporators are opposing the demolition drive. They foiled the plans of VMC when it prepared to act on some illegal structures identified by DTCP following clear instructions of DTCP authorities.
The VMC had collected 10 per cent of total value of the illegal structures last year as part of regularisation drive, but the DTCP authorities did not accept it and made it clear to demolish such illegal structures at any cost.
Sources said that the VMC is now also on backtrack to take action over the structures that had been identified by the DTCP and some other structures identified in the past and confined to fresh illegal structures only.
“We will not demolish the constructions that identified last year. We just take action on new only. We are not ready to fight with some public representatives,” said an official of VMC.
