BRS to Scrap HILTP Policy if Voted to Power, Says KTR
Hyderabad, Aug 8 (TNT): BRS working president K T Rama Rao (KTR) on Saturday announced that his party would scrap the HILTP policy if it returned to power in Telangana and launch a statewide campaign against what he alleged was an attempt to hand over valuable industrial land in Hyderabad to private interests.
The Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation Policy (HILTP), implemented by the TGIIC, aims to convert over 9,000 acres of old, unviable, or polluting industrial land within Hyderabad’s core urban region and Outer Ring Road (ORR) into multi-use and mixed-use zones.
Telangana Government has decided to accept applications for conversion of industrial lands within and near the Outer Ring Road (ORR) under its Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation Policy (HILTP) for three months till October 31.
Addressing the media in Nandi Nagar here, KTR claimed that around 10,000 acres of valuable land, estimated by him to be worth nearly Rs 5 lakh crore, was being put at risk under the policy.
He alleged that land originally allotted for industrial development and employment generation was being opened up for private commercial and real-estate activities.
KTR said the BRS would educate the public and industrial organisations about what it described as the adverse implications of the policy and would approach industrial bodies with representations and presentations.
He also warned that people getting their properties regularised under the present policy could face losses in the future.
Hyderabad was already facing a shortage of land for public requirements such as playgrounds, housing and burial grounds, KTR said, alleging that diverting thousands of acres of valuable land to private interests would amount to a betrayal of public trust.
He said the BRS would approach the High Court over alleged irregularities in the HILTP policy and place the matter before the judiciary and the people.
KTR said the party would make protection of public assets a major political issue and continue its campaign against what it described as the government’s land policies.
TNT TS
