Hyderabad: As the 28,123 ‘illegal encroachers’ who are living in central government lands in the Secunderabad Cantonment were removed recently from the Cantonment board election voter list, on the directions of the Supreme Court, the elected board members, along with the all party members, are going to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the apex court, as it is the only way to challenge the move.
On Tuesday, an all-party meeting will be held at the Cantonment board office where all the affected people and those hoping to be part of the PIL will assemble, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board vice-president, Mr J. Rama Krishna, announced.
The board clarified that the deletion of the names is confined only to the Cantonment board elections, which will be held in 2020. People can cast their votes in the general elections as usual. The board further clarified that the deletion would not affect the development works in those areas.
Mr Rama Krishna, said that, “We are in talks with the state government to expedite the Land Exchange Scheme, in which the land where slum dwellers are living now will be exchanged with the state government by giving other land in return to the central government. Then the land will come under the state and the ‘illegal encroachers’ will gain legal status.” However, some residents expressed doubts about the actual implementation of the Land Exchange Scheme.
