Encroachments in Osmania University surface

Hyderabad: Encroachment of Osmania University lands have been going on for many years without any action from the university or the government. Now the encroachers are trying to get their lands regularised through the regularisation scheme.

The government has received 208 applications from BPL families and about 50 from APL families for regularisation from Manikeshwari Nagar.

The encroached land in these applications have been found to be OU lands. The government formed a team of Hyderabad collectorate officials to find out details about the lands after which OU’s opinion was sought.

According to sources, the university denied having applied for regularisation. However, senior faculty members think that the government might consider buying OU’s unused lands.

Recently, about six acres of land belonging to OU was bought by the government for “security purposes” near the Chief Minister’s camp office in Begumpet, for which OU paid Rs 40 crore.

A senior professor from the university said, “There are many encroachments on university lands even inside the main campus over many years which also include some religious structures.

However, no political party or student union dared to take up the issue seriously because they seek political support from the people who live in dwellings on these encroached lands. The university has been weak in protecting its lands from encroachments.”