Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Revenue Administration has identified that a majority of government lands are under encroachment, especially at prime localities like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills under the Shaikpet revenue jurisdiction.
During the search to identify suitable land for the construction of 2BHK houses/flats in city, the department found that out of 18,576.06 acres of government land, only 566.20 acres were available in bits consisting of 500 and above square yards.
In prime localities under the Shaikpet Revenue Mandal, records state that about 4,196.31 acres of government land exist, but at field level only 7.08 lakh square meters of land are available.
Officials have said that after allotting land for housing and other schemes, the remaining government land in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills are available in bits and pieces.
The Hyderabad Revenue Wing is facing as many as 1,129 court cases, filed by private persons claiming the ownership of the government lands with fabricated documents. While, six cases are with the Supreme Court of India, 958 in High Court and 165 in the City Civil Court.
Due to the lack of awareness about court proceedings among the revenue staff, the government is yet to file counters and appeals in a majority of cases.
Hyderabad district collector Yogitha Rana told DC that the revenue administration was focusing more on the protection of government lands and that from September 16, she would hold reviews on cases pending every Saturday, with revenue officials.
The collector directed revenue staff from Tahsildar to DRO to focus on pending cases, filing counters and contempt cases.
The government, meanwhile, on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 5 crore to the Rangareddy district for hiring pleaders who fight its cases in various courts.
A source in the revenue department has said that though records show that 18,576.06 acres of government land existed, a majority of such lands have now been turned into slums and colonies. “For instance, in the Musheerabad revenue mandal, a majority of the area in Ramnagar is comes under the government land category. But since 1950, permanent structures have come up, with entire slums in Film Nagar being developed after 1990.”
“By 2012, a majority of such lands were turned into slums. But after 2015, the initiation of the Telangana government in maintaining WebLand databases, along with Google maps and regular visits of the VRO and VRA’s to government lands, we have protected a majority of open lands,” the source said.
