103 city roads to be changed from residential to commercial

HYDERABAD: Land use for as many as 103 city roads (100 feet wide) will be changed from residential to commercial category soon. This will make way for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to levy impact fee on owners approaching for building permissions. The impact fee to be levied ranges upto `200 per square feet in the GHMC limits on commercial properties whereas in the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, the impact fee ranges from `200 to `400 per sq.ft. 

A few day ago, GHMC wrote a letter to Municipal Administration and Urban Development requesting the state government to notify 103 roads which are over 100 feet wide roads as commercial roads by levying impact fee. A government order is expected to be issued shortly. The said roads are not notified in the existing master plan of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority and presently notified under residential category, which is causing huge revenue losses to the Corporation. The Corporation has decided to change the land use of these roads as they have already turned into commercial hubs and are devoid of any residential activity. 

In the recent review meetings held by MAUD, Minister K Taraka Rama Rao suggested to explore the possibility of extending the facility of notification of commercial road to the entire GHMC and rationalisation of impact fee. GHMC officials told Express that the Corporation should be allowed to levy impact fee for unnotified commercial roads. 

As per the master plan approved for the GHMC areas falling outside erstwhile MCH, certain areas have been earmarked for commercial use. Certain strips of land along major roads such as National Highways and State Highways were also earmarked for commercial use. GHMC also observed that in addition to the above, there are certain roads having potential for commercial development and certain unauthorised commercial activities have also come up. Such roads should be identified and notified as commercial roads by levying the impact fee, they added.