Is Hyderabad going the Delhi way??? This is the flip side of the IT revolution that swept the city during late nineties and brought it to international prominence when President Bill Clinton visited Hyderabad in 1999, preferring it over Bangalore.

During the past few years, I have observed builders pay scant respect to the building rules and regulations. Violation of the building laws is an accepted rule, which is done with the convivance of the concerned government officials. I would love to see a building which can boast of 100% building law compliance. Every builder worth his salt would build a penthouse which is not approved, but which gets approved after the completion of a stipulated period by paying some penalty. I am really surprised that the municipal officials turn a blind eye to the violations taking place before their very eyes.

Do we require the courts to intervene in such cases and remind the government officials of their responsibility? Certainly. the honorable judges of the courts have a lot of other important judicial duties to perform. But, when the government officials sleep and forget their duties and responsibility towards the general public, there has to be some "authority" which has to wake them up and force them into action. It has been seen in Delhi that the political leadership was not ready to take on that role, since many of the important and influential political leaders were also in the list of defaulters. The vote bank also plays a very important factor. So, who is to bell the cat? It is the good fortune of the country that we have a judiciary which understands the plight of the hapless citizens. The action taken by the courts in Delhi should be an eye opener for the entire country.

In Hyderabad, the High court is also siezed of the violations in buioldings laws. The local municipal authorfities are struggling to provide the information required by the court. However, the the builders' association in Hyderabad has requested the state government to 'legalise' the violations. Agreed... since i do not see any reason why the poor consumer who unknowingly bought the property, should be penalised by the government for no fault of theirs. But what about the construction still happening which is against the building law? I have observed builders working against time to complete the construction, so that they too can claim benefit, in case the government decides on a date after which any violation will not be permitted. I am sure the general public can smell something fishy.... convivance of builders and the corrupt government officials.