Mall opens; GHMC seals it in 24 hours

Less than 24 hours after the grand inauguration of South India Shopping Mall by Tollywood hero Mahesh Babu in Kukatpally, the Town Planning wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), along with police, sealed the entire building here on Friday morning.

 The premises, which is under various stages of construction, was sealed because the building owner had not obtained the Occupancy Certificate (OC), which is mandatory as per the GHMC Act.

 The issue was not against the management of the mall but against the property owners, who let out the premises despite not having the OC.

 Speaking to Express, GHMC chief city planner (CCP) G V Raghu said that as per by-law 13 of Municipal Corporation Building Bylaws 1981, no building should be occupied until the occupancy certificate is issued by the local authority. But in the present case, the building owner A V Krishnam Raju had let out the building, violating the rule.

 Raju had applied for OC on September 22 this year, but it was rejected as a portion of the premise, that was meant for 100-feet road widening, was not dedicated for the purpose and instead, an electric transformer had been erected there.

 Also, the building’s rear side, cellar and sub-cellars have been constructed by deviating from the sanctioned plan.

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