Hyderabad development body's land pooling scheme goes abegging

HYDERABAD: The land pooling scheme proposed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has seen a lukewarm response from the farmers.

The HMDA had proposed the scheme in three village around Hyderabad for around 2,000 acres but has received consent for only 100 acres that too in only one village, Pratap Singaram.

Sources said landowners are not showing much interest in the scheme as they do not consider the offer lucrative and feel private developers are offering greater amount than HMDA. For instance, in Mokila village in Shankarpally mandal the scheme was announced a few months back but none of the owners have come forward.

The scheme was proposed with an intention to share developed land with private owners. If land owners came together and handed over the land to the authority, it develops the land and allocates them a share in it. On an experiment basis, the HMDA developed land at Uppal Bhagat village near Nagole where every owner was given 1,000 square yards developed land for each acre.

Following this, the HMDA announced another scheme for 1,575 acres in Pratap Singaram and Korremula and another 456 acres in Mokila village. Due to the lukewarm response from farmers and land owners, the metropolitan authority made changes to the scheme and offered more developed land which comes to around 60:40 for land owners and the government respectively.

The scheme was proposed in 750 acres in Lemuru village in Kandukuru village near Pharma City, Dandu Malkapuram near Choutuppal, where a textile park is being developed and Bogaram village in Keesara mandal. Of 750 acres, the HMDA could get response for 50% of the land proposed. Official sources said farmers of Dandu Malkaram have expressed their willingness to hand over 170 acres, 60 acres in Lemuru and 100 acres in Bhogaram.

“We offered 1,742 sq yards developed land for each of their one-acre land as per the new (GO 83) The landowners need not pay any charges for development of the land such as roads, drainage, greenery and fees for non-agriculture conversion and change of land use which will be borne by the authority,” said HDMA consultant (land pooling schemes), Sista Vishwanth.