Telangana fighting to reclaim Rs 30,000 crore government land from sharks’ clutches

HYDERABAD: The state urging the Telangana high court to allow it to reclaim Rs 2,000 crore worth of land at Khanamet from former MP D Ramanaidu's family and others claiming it is government land is only the tip of the iceberg. Senior officials said there is more to the land muddle than what meets the eye.
For instance, the Rangareddy administration is fighting to reclaim over 3,000 acres worth Rs 30,000 crore in western parts of Hyderabad. This is not an isolated case, officials say. There are several such litigations where government land is stuck in private hands and the state is fighting to reclaim it.

In the city's western parts of Serilingampally, Hafeezpet, Khanamet, Raidurg, Manchirevula, Puppalguda, Shamshabad, Gandipet, Gachibowli and Gopanpally, there is a huge chunk of land which is caught in legal wrangles and the government wants to free it from the clutches of land sharks. The cost of each acre in these areas is anywhere between Rs 5 crore and Rs 60 crore.

The government says several land parcels have been sold fraudulently to third parties. In some cases, litigations are several decades old and pending in various courts. Some of the land ownerships have changed hands with individuals getting court orders in their favour, revenue officials said.
Officials said with the land prices skyrocketing and huge demand for open land in the western parts of the city, there is renewed focus on these lands.
"Our major focus is on large extents and vacant lands which have been identified by the state and where it has title over the land. We will protect every inch of government land. The chief secretary is closely monitoring the cases personally as the government will not allow illegal occupation or ownership of the land. Special legal teams are being hired to fight the cases in Supreme Court also," Rangareddy collector D Amoy Kumar told TOI.
The prime land includes those allotted to the elite Greyhounds at Manchirevula covering an extent of 142 acres in survey Nos. 393/1 to 393/20 in Gandipet mandal. Others include 84 acres in survey No. 46 in Raidurg, 550 acres in survey Nos. 100 and 101 in Miyapur and 96 acres in survey No. 172 in Hydernagar.
Apart from protecting vacant land from illegal occupation, the government is also fighting to take over such plots.
For instance, apartments and gated communities have come up in Hafeezpet, Madhapur and Kondapur areas on a controversial jagir land.
"Of the 450 acres in Hafeezpet, only 100 acres is vacant now. We are trying to reclaim ownership of government land in various courts," a Rangareddy revenue official said.