The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : `Moving' feat by GHMC

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

`Moving' feat by GHMC

V. Geetanath

Relocation of religious structures on main roads

HYDERABAD: In the last few months, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had managed to do something, which it was unable to do for many years now - convince local people to relocate religious structures on the main roads.

After a temple was shifted near Anand theatre, a similar feat was performed at Balkampet recently. Few other religious structures, including mosques, graveyards, `chilas' have been `moved' though officials are cagey about giving the precise details.

The GHMC has identified more than 50 such structures for the shift in the coming days, though there are more than 300 religious structures identified as traffic obstacles, said Additional Commissioner (Planning & Projects) K. Dhananjaya Reddy.

Persuasion holds key

"There is no magic formula. We try to localise the problem and prevent hot heads from political or religious wings from interfering.

Initially, there will be some resistance to the shift but after persuasion and more persuasion we succeeded in some places," he says.

Other sops

The GHMC has also been adopting innovative methods to encourage temple and mosque committees to relocate. Other than giving them land compensation, it has also been offering to build the structure afresh or some part of it, or a wall, a slab, etc., free of cost at an alternative place. "We are conscious of people's sentiments and would do nothing to hurt them. Hence, we are going about the job with extreme caution," says Mr. Reddy.

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