Hyderabad: At a time when land in Hyderabad’s IT corridor commands more than Rs 200 crore an acre, a prime parcel near IKEA and Deloitte remains locked in a decades-old legal dispute, lying abandoned beneath towering heaps of construction debris.According to industry estimates, the disputed property spans around 10 acres and is now valued at over Rs 2,000 crore. Sources said the legal battle between a real estate firm and the state govt has dragged on for nearly two decades. A nearby 10-acre land parcel in Raidurg was recently valued at over Rs 200 crore per acre.“When the dispute began around 2006, the land was worth barely Rs 50 lakh an acre. Since then, soaring demand in the IT corridor has driven its value up nearly 400-fold, turning one of Hyderabad’s most valuable land parcels into an expensive wasteland,” said a city-based real estate developer.The unresolved ownership dispute left the land vacant and largely unattended, making it an easy target for builders and developers looking to dump construction and demolition (C&D) waste generated by the IT corridor’s real estate boom. Today, it is the city’s largest illegal C&D waste dumpsite.The twin debris mountains now rise almost as high as adjoining multi-storey buildings and are estimated to contain nearly 15 lakh tonnes of construction waste. Spread over several acres, the dumps have completely altered the landscape, burying the original terrain under layers of concrete, bricks and rubble, with sections rising several metres above the natural ground level.According to officials of the Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC), the site near IKEA had been used as an unauthorised dumping yard since March 2016, with thousands of tonnes of C&D waste dumped there over the years. The practice was halted only after the formation of the CMC in February this year, when enforcement against illegal dumping was intensified.Clearing debris may cost Rs 50 croreRemoving the accumulated waste is expected to pose a major financial challenge. Estimates suggest that scientifically processing the nearly 15 lakh tonnes of debris could cost around Rs 50 crore. Private C&D waste processing facilities currently charge Rs 400-450 per tonne for transportation, processing and recycling. At these rates, the total expenditure is expected to touch Rs 50 crore.Earlier, when the CMC approached the mining department, preliminary estimates pegged the processing cost at around Rs 20 crore. However, quotations received from private agencies were significantly higher, depending on the technology and logistics involved.To address the issue, the CMC has invited agencies to prepare a scientific remediation plan for the legacy dumpsites near IKEA and Deloitte.“We have invited agencies to develop scientific solutions for clearing the C&D waste dumpsites near IKEA and Deloitte. The selected agency will recommend appropriate technologies and methodologies for processing and disposing of the legacy waste. The proposal will cover segregation, recycling and reuse, deployment of mobile or fixed processing plants, transportation and logistics, as well as measures to control dust, leachate and other forms of pollution during the clearance process,” a senior CMC official said.
