The worrisome trend of land encroachments across Telangana

Rampant land encroachments and mushrooming illegal structures over government land parcels have become a common practice across the State of Telangana. A recent reprimand by the High Court brings forth the callous attitude of the Government bureaucracy and hand-in-glove approach with the land mafia. In fact, the speed with which the structures are coming up clearly depicts that the system is turning ignorant to the practice of illegal land occupation.

Let us examine the issue in greater detail.

The latest cases

The Telangana High Court has issued notices to the Government machinery over a recent case of land encroachment in Rangareddy district of the State of Telangana. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed for preventing the encroachment of 3.22 acres of Government land at Gandhamguda area in Gandipet Mandal of Rangareddy district. Apart from the illegal encroachment, the land mafia is building residential structures over the grabbed land and officials are in not taking action against the practice.

In a yet another sensitive case of land encroachment, the land mafia has illegally occupied the land earmarked for a graveyard. The graveyard is located in the Kanteshwar village in the Nizamabad district of Telangana. It was found that the graveyard has been reduced only to 11 Kuntas and the remaining 1.28 acres of land was occupied by encroachers. It was only when the State Minority Commission pulled up the administration did the Government machinery woke up from the slumber.

The judiciary has expressed severe concern on record towards the rising cases of land grab and even worse official apathy.

The government measures

It is not the lack of legal avenues that are preventing the official machinery from acting on land mafia but the lack of willpower. Recently, the State Government of Telangana had passed the Telangana Municipalities Bill, 2019. This bill provided that if a landowner is found guilty or found in possession of an illegal land piece, the structure built over the land will be demolished without any notice. The demolition will be on an immediate basis in case of unauthorised construction.

The bill also provided that if a landlord is found guilty of providing wrong information to the administration, he/she will be levied a penalty of up to 25 times of the land value.

Although the bill was brought to discourage illegal land occupation and check the malicious practice, the executive machinery has not displayed an eagerness to check the trend.

Expressing concern over the matter, Ishanee Sharma, an advocate of the Supreme Court of India, says, "The recent cases of land encroachment in Telangana are a matter of grave concern. Despite the presence of a strong Municipal law, 2019, the official apathy and lackadaisical approach of the executive machinery are worrisome. The government must carry out regular land surveys and update the data online so as to prevent the illegal practice. A preventive approach of the government will certainly help the residents of the State."

Conclusively, leaving aside sporadic matters of land grab, frequent cases of illegal land encroachments cannot flourish without official knowledge. This is a dangerous nexus. A rebuttal from the Court must not be the trigger to take action every time. The government must identify the loopholes and ensure that the law takes its course when the government land is illegally occupied. An iron fist dealing with malicious elements and preventive approach from the executive machinery is the only solution to the problem.