HYDRAA Reclaims 317 Acres of Government Land Worth Rs 15,000 Crore in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The state government on Sunday initiated operations to reclaim 317 acres of government land worth between Rs 12,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore in Survey No. 307 at Gajularamaram, Quthbullapur. The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and revenue department officials, with assistance from the police, razed sheds, temporary structures, compound walls, and rooms built on the encroached government land.

Tension prevailed as some individuals pelted stones at the demolition teams. The glass of at least one earthmover was broken during the stone pelting. Women protested against HYDRAA, shouting slogans and questioning the enforcement activity. Videos circulated on social media showed some people alleging that HYDRAA was demolishing the dwelling units of the poor.

Responding quickly, HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath clarified that the agency would not touch the dwelling units of economically weaker sections but was focused on clearing encroachments by real estate sharks and well-off persons. HYDRA and revenue officials determined that of the total land parcel, the structures housing poor families were spread over 40 acres. Land had been divided into plots of 50 and 100 square yards and fraudulently sold to economically weaker sections at prices ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. These would not be demolished, Ranganath said.

The remaining portion, 275 acres, which had been handed over to the State Finance Corporation (SFC) before 2014, will be reclaimed. HYDRAA officials stated that a politician from the Quthbullapur constituency, a few local politicians, some real estate brokers, and a few government officials were in illegal occupation of this portion of land. Officials found that fake occupancy rights certificates (ORCs), commonly called ‘pattas’, had been handed out to financially well-off buyers of the land.

HYDRAA officials explained that the landgrabbers operated by putting poor families in the forefront, providing them with sheds and small tenements, while carrying out their illegal business in the background. Action will be initiated against those who have developed real estate ventures on government land, Ranganath said, adding that the property would be fenced off. The process of laying roads and providing electricity connections for the units has been halted. “The poor will not be removed. Only the land under the illegal occupation of influential persons is being taken over,” Ranganath emphasized.

The next course of action will be identifying the people who had created fake documents and fraudulently sold the plots to economically weaker sections. “We will lodge police complaints against such people for trying to sell government land through fabricated documents and against local officials for conniving with them,” an official from HYDRAA stated. Ahead of Sunday’s demolition drive, HYDRAA and revenue department officials had held about half a dozen meetings in the last six months, discussed the action with government officials, and took up the enforcement drive.

Instructions were issued to field officers not to demolish dwellings or residential houses where poor people reside. On the land falling in Survey No 307, the financially weaker sections were illegally sold small portions of land on the Quthbullapur side, while bigger encroachments and real estate ventures were located towards the Pragathinagar side.