HYDERABAD: Making it clear that the new layout regularisation scheme (LRS) does not accord any blanket permission to the competent authority to regularise all illegal layouts, the government informed the HC it will not regularise layouts within full tank level (FTL) of water bodies and also those that came up on shikam land.
Municipal administration principal secretary Arvind Kumar said this in an affidavit before HC following a direction from a bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy to answer contentions raised by Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. The Congress MP had challenged the new LRS in general and the proposed penal charges in particular.
Arvind, in his affidavit, said the restrictions contained in GO 111 in respect of constructions within the catchment areas of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs would continue to be applicable.
He said that the new LRS Rules, issued on August 31 and notified through GO 131, have made no exception for these areas.
Stating that Rule 5 of LRS-2020 clearly say no layout regularisation or development is allowed in areas that fall under river beds, lake beds tanks, pond and kunta, the principal secretary, however, said if already layouts have come up in such areas, the water bodies and their courses should be maintained as recreational zones, buffer zones and green zones and no development activity would be allowed in such areas.
“No layout development activity shall be carried out within 30 metres from the boundary of river course, or lakes of 10 hectares and above. For less than 10 hectares of lakes, shikam land and kuntas, nine metres distance from their boundaries has to be maintained. For layouts on canals and vagus too, the distance of nine metres was prescribed in the LRS GO. If it is a nala, the distance to be maintained is two meters,” he said in the affidavit.
Refuting allegations that innocent buyers were being penalised through LRS, Arvind said the money collected from plot owners in illegal layouts would be used to provide amenities like roads, drains etc. The money that comes from the LRS scheme would strengthen local bodies and they would be able to provide better infrastructure facilities to the hitherto unauthorised layouts, the affidavit said.
“A separate escrow account will be maintained by the respective local body for the purpose so that the money that comes from regularisation will be spent on development of the same area. To prevent further mushrooming of unauthorised layouts, the state has banned registration of plots in illegal layouts,” it said.