Hyderabad: Government land can sometimes be appropriated by builders without the government apparently knowing it owns the land, showing how chaotic the land records are.
A builder from Andhra Pradesh, M.V. Sai Ramaraju, encroached upon 2,400 square yards of land belonging to the TS revenue department in Khanamet, Serilingampally. The land was worth Rs 20 crore.
He built residential flats on the government land. The government was oblivious of the fact that it had been robbed of the land until a resident of Serilingampally, Mr Challa Shoban, filed a complaint. The revenue department then conducted a survey and found that it did in fact own the land.
Mr Shoban told this newspaper: "Earlier, a commercial complex was under construction on the same government land but it was demolished. Thus it is known to many that the land falls under the TS revenue department. The builder, Ramaraju, encroached the land in three parcels of 800 square yards in three places. At all sites construction activity is on."
After the survey, Khanamet mandal revenue officer Tirumal Reddy issued a show cause notice to the builder, asking why he should not be penalised under relevant sections and evicted for being in unauthorised possession of land owned by the government. Three notices were issued for the different sites encroached by the builder.
The Ranga Reddy collector’s office also wrote to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to cancel the building permission granted to the builder. Khanamet falls under the Serilingampally Assembly division which is a hotbed of real estate activity.
The GHMC head office that deals with building permissions for high rises is looking into the matter.
