Politics · India Bureau
Telangana urged to operationalise stalled building tribunal for illegal constructions
A construction oversight body established nearly a decade ago remains non-functional due to lack of leadership appointments, hampering efforts to tackle unauthorised building activity across the state.
LSN India ·
Civil society groups have called on the Telangana government to activate its Town Planning and Building Tribunal, which has languished without functional leadership since its establishment in 2016. The Forum for Good Governance (FGG), a prominent civic watchdog, highlighted the tribunal's continued inoperability, citing the absence of a chairperson and member appointments as the primary obstacle. According to FGG president M. Padmanabha Reddy, the tribunal was formally constituted eight years ago but has never been operationalised, leaving a critical gap in the state's regulatory framework for addressing unauthorised constructions. The tribunal was designed to serve as an appellate body for disputes related to town planning and building violations, offering property owners a mechanism to challenge civic authority decisions. FGG's intervention underscores growing concerns over the persistence of illegal construction activities in urban areas of Telangana, with advocates arguing that a functional tribunal could help streamline enforcement procedures and provide faster resolution of building-related disputes. The state government has not yet responded to requests for a timeline on filling the tribunal's vacant positions.