Telangana: Civic officials, SPM at loggerheads

Tussle over officials demolishing wall constructed by SPM

Hyderabad: A face-off between the municipal officials and management of Sirpur Paper Mills (SPM) over ownership of some stretches of the road led to the registration of cases and counter cases against the Municipal Commissioner Anjaiah and the SPM officials including its vice presidents AK Mishra, Giri, and the CGM Ramesh Rao.

The confrontation between the municipality and the SPM management began over after officials demolished a wall constructed by SPM barring people from using roads between a sports ground of the paper manufacturer and Balabharati High School, near ESI hospital on Monday.

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Local MLA Dr P Harish Babu too visited the spot and opined that pulling down the walls was a good sign. The civic officials maintained that factory management constructed the walls across the roads situated outside its limits. They argued that the roads were drawn in a master plan of the municipality. They said that the SPM management was given notices but it did not respond.

However, after the walls were demolished, the mill management erected iron sheets across the roads on Wednesday night, further fuelling the row. Following this, members of a joint action committee staged a sit-in on the roads on Thursday demanding that the management should allow civilians to use the stretches. They said that the management was causing inconvenience to the public by prohibiting the traffic.

Upon learning about the protest, the municipal officials reached the spot and removed the sheets. The mill management tried to prevent the officials from citing a High Court order. The mill official alleged that the civic authorities were intimidating its staff and argued that the roads were within the lands owned by the mill. Giri, vice president of the factory, lodged a complaint with the police.

Accordingly, cases were registered against the Municipal Commissioner Anjaiah and some councilors. Meanwhile, based on a complaint received from Anjaiah, a case was booked against mill vice presidents AK Mishra, Giri, Chief General Manager Ramesh Rao, and Security Chief Satish Singh on charges of obstructing officials from discharging duties and abusing him using his caste.

Superintendent of Police K Suresh Kumar visited the spot on Thursday. Locals, however, expressed concern over the controversy between the municipality and the factory management. They opined that the row would affect the growth of the town, besides disturbing peace. They urged the officials of the civic body and management of the SPM to resolve the issue amicably.