Property owners oppose 200-foot Rajiv Rahadari corridor expansion

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Members of Rajiv Rahadari Property Owners’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) and Secunderabad Cantonment MLA Sri Ganesh Narayanan submitting a representation to Hyderabad district collector Priyanka Ala on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The Rajiv Rahadari Property Owners’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) has appealed to Hyderabad Collector Priyanka Ala to limit the width of the proposed elevated corridor on State Highway-1 to 150 feet instead of the proposed 200 feet in the core commercial and residential stretches, while also demanding enhanced compensation based on prevailing market rates. In a representation submitted to the Collector on Wednesday, the JAC said many properties along the corridor have existed for 25 to 50 years. These include hospitals, retail stores, restaurants, grocery outlets and other service establishments that collectively provide employment to thousands of people. The JAC stated that the area constitutes a vibrant commercial belt with hundreds of individual property owners and claimed that property values in the locality are comparable to those in upscale neighbourhoods such as Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. “The proposed expansion would require demolition of two rows of buildings in several locations, leading to financial losses and altering the character of the locality. We seek compensation based on the prevailing market value instead of government card value,” said JAC chairman Telukunta Satish Gupta. Referring to compensation paid in Medchal district, the JAC said the Collectorate had sanctioned compensation of ₹1.1 lakh per square yard, which was above the prevailing market value and nearly 10 times the card value. In comparison, compensation being offered to affected owners in Hyderabad varied between ₹90,000 and ₹1.4 lakh per sq. yd., depending on the locality, while prevailing market rates ranged between ₹2.5 lakh and ₹3 lakh per square yard. Expressing concern over the proposal to widen the highway to 200 feet, the JAC said the e