‘40% land’ under Secunderabad Cantonment Board target for land sharks

SECUNDERABAD: Taking advantage of the pandemic-induced lockdowns, land sharks have encroached crores worth of ‘40 per cent land,’ given to Secunderabad Cantonment Board by developers and housing societies.
Residents are demanding SCB officials to develop parks in such areas, similar to those in GHMC area, to deter encroachment.

The Cantonment currently has around 100 acres of these ‘40 per cent lands,’ estimated to cost around Rs 600 crore in the current market.
However, an SCB engineering wing official said that a lack of funds has held them back from building compound walls along such areas and installing CCTV cameras. “But we have conducted inspections on unauthorised constructions on such lands with help from whistle-blowers, to foil the efforts land sharks,” the official told TOI.
As per present estimates, around 60 per cent of such lands have been encroached. Of the remaining 40 per cent, 20 per cent has been utilised by SCB to build parks and other amenities while 20 per cent is still vacant.
Around four years back, SCB had passed a resolution to build community halls and gyms, develop lawns on the ‘40 per cent lands’ but built them in only one or two land parcels. Residents are now urging the board to either hand over the maintenance of such areas to GHMC or set up a horticulture wing for the same, similar to the one in GHMC.