Telangana eyes ‘misused’ land by Tollywood biggies

Hyderabad: Telugu film industry is in for a jolt. The Hyderabad district administration will soon be issuing notices to veteran filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao and other film bigwigs for flouting conditions of land allotment and using it for commercial purposes.

To promote the film industry in Hyderabad, the state had allotted several acres of land at subsidised rates to industry members between 1983 and 1999. The condition was for them to set up film and recording studios.

However, over the years the land became prized and was used for commercial complexes and other money-spinning ventures violating the allotment purpose.
“Director K. Raghavendra Rao, K.S. Prakash, Krishna Mohan among others, were granted half acres each for setting up recording and film-shooting studios. But they violated the condition and built commercial establishments,” said Mukesh Kumar Meena, Hyderabad Collector.

The Hyderabad district administration has found irregularities in the land allotted to Tollywood producers.
“Inspection revealed that film directors K. Raghavendra Rao and Krishna Mohan, were granted land at Road No. 2 at Banjara Hills where a Cinemax theatre and a commercial complex have come up. While the half acre allotted to K.S. Prakash is being used as a parking lot,” the collector added.

Late P. Janardhan Reddy, former Khairatabad MLA, had strongly opposed permission to Raghavendra Rao for constructing a commercial complex but could not prevent it. Rao was said to have been enjoying the patronage of the then Telugu Desam.

Land given for studios cannot be misused, but political interference has helped flout rules, officials said and admitted that the decision to give the “go-by” is taken at the “highest level in the government”.

However, Mr Meena said, “There will be no penalty or fines but the land will be reclaimed. Notices will be issued to them with a 10-day time frame to reply as to why the land should not be reclaimed.”

Since most of the land allotted to film personalities happens to be in Banjara Hills, Jubilee hills or in the vicinity, they clearly wished to exploit it. The current market value of the land runs into several crores.

In a similar case, Hyderabad district administration reclaimed 3.31 acres of prime government land in Jubilee Hills allotted to Anand Cine Services, an outdoor film unit, as the management failed to utilize if for the purpose it was given for. The reclaimed land could be worth nearly Rs 100 crore.

Revenue records show that the Hyderabad district administration allotted five-acre government land (Survey No. 403) on Road No. 76, Jubilee Hills in Shaikpet mandal in 2001 for putting up Cinema settings and a parking area.