Sharks ravage 2,250 acres allotted to Deccan Infrastructure

Hyderabad: Land on the city’s outskirts allotted to the state government’s Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Ltd (DILL) by  Congress governments of undivided AP lie in utter neglect and are becoming vulnerable to encroachments.

The company owns a land bank of over 2,250 acres in Hyderabad and surrounding districts. Though the aim was to take up housing and other realty projects, there is no progress due to slowdown in the realty sector.

These lands, which are now worth over Rs 10,000 per sq. yard, became soft targets for encroachers as they have been lying vacant for years together and no measures are being taken to protect them from encroachments.

It has become difficult for officials to protect DILL lands over an extent of 130 acre next to the Outer Ring Road as they command huge real estate value. With no fencing, encroachers are on the prowl to grab these lands. Forty out of the 130 acre is under litigation due to encroachments during the past five years.

Recently, officials received complaints from locals against land sharks encroaching another five acres in Sharmirpet mandal worth Rs 20 crore. After the TRS government came to power, it took over 182 acres in Sherilingampally mandal and another 1,100 acres in Mahbubnagar belonging to the company. The 1,100 acre was taken back for allotment to Pharma City.

“Most of the complaints on encroachments are coming from Ranga Reddy as the lands here command huge real estate value. Recently, we could prevent encroachment of valuable land in Bahadurpura after we received complaints from locals against attempts made by encroachers,” said Mr Vikraamuddin, DILL lands in-charge in RR district.

The expensive lands identified by the government, which are prone to encroachment, include 262 acres in Shamshabad mandal, 82 acres in Gajularaamaaram, 117 acre in Nadergul, 126 acres in Aziznagar and 130 acres in Abdullahpurmet. DILL lacks the ground-level mechanism to supervise and protect these expensive lands  as it is controlled by higher-level officials of various departments in the Secretariat who hardly find time to focus on this issue and take steps accordingly to protect these lands.