Hyderabad’s new helpline to report encroachments flooded with calls

Three days after the Asset Protection Cell was launched in Hyderabad, their toll-free number has already received 827 calls. Out of the 827 calls received, 316 were received on July 6, 293 calls on July 7 and 218 calls were received on July 8. Out of all the calls, 141 were regarding complaints about encroachment in lakes, parks and open spaces.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC) Directorate of Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management (EVDM) unit in Hyderabad had launched the Asset Protection Cell to save parks, lakes and open spaces from encroachments. A toll-free number for citizens to alert the administration on encroachments of public spaces in the GHMC limits was formally launched by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister, KT Rama Rao, on Sunday.

Explaining the process, Vishwajith Kampati, the Director of EVDM said, “Callers can lodge a complaint by providing their details or anonymously. The team then breaks it down into the various categories and lists it under the respective zone. It is then passed on to the Assistant Enforcement Officer of that particular zone who then  carried out a field inspection. If encroachment is confirmed, enforcement action is immediately. If there is any doubt, a notice is issued for the documents to be produced. If the complaint is found to be false, it is closed. The complainant will receive details of the complaint and if closed, will be provided with an explanation for the same.”

Though the Asset Protection Cell was launched for complaints regarding GHMC limits, 686 calls out of the total were received from out of the GHMC limits. All the complaints received are being registered and those received from out of the GHMC limits will be passed onto the respective Municipal Commissioners through mail for further action.

“Based on the complaints received in the last three days, 45 field inspections have been carried out by the concerned officers. We had three call operators deployed to answer the calls received on the toll-free number. Due to the high number of complaints being received, we have decided to expand the team by two more members”, said the Director.

Out of all the calls received from within the GHMC limits, LB Nagar tops the list with 36 calls, followed by 28 calls from Serilingampally and 24 calls from Kukatpally.

The toll free number is 1800-599-0099.

The Asset Protection Cell will be working from 10 AM to 6 PM on all working days.

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