RR district Collector transferred to Vizag

Project for protection of government lands in the district facing uncertainty

August 24, 2012 02:03 pm | Updated 02:03 pm IST - HYDERABAD

The transfer of Ranga Reddy district Collector V. Seshadri through a government order on Thursday has left the project for protection of government lands in the district facing uncertainty.

Mr. Seshadri was among the 11 IAS officers moved from their respective positions in the State. He has been shifted to Visakhapatnam, and A. Vani Prasad has been posted in his place. Soon after he assumed charge about one-and-a-half years ago, Mr. Seshadri began the formidable task of inventorising government lands in the district. In fact, protection of government lands was believed to be the purpose behind his transfer to the district.

Litigations

Due to their real estate value, government lands in Ranga Reddy district are coveted by land sharks, resulting in encroachments to a large extent. The district administration is fighting a number of land-related cases in different courts.

An inventory by the district administration says that 17,000 hectares of government land is under encroachments, while 6,000 acres is caught up in various litigations.

Mr. Seshadri as the Collector had taken up the task of protecting the vacant government lands which were free from encroachments. Despite non-cooperation from the Revenue officials, he drove them to get the vacant patches of government land identified, surveyed, and demarcated. While the total extent of vacant lands identified exceeds one lakh acres, the process of demarcating them is still on.

“Demarcation is being done by planting pillars and sign-boards. So far we have demarcated more than 1,500 acres of agricultural land and over 3.66 lakh square yards of urban land,” informed K. Rajender Reddy, Special Grade Deputy Collector, Land Administration.

Tahsildar reinstated

The Collector had surrendered the services of G. Subba Rao, Tahsildar of Serilingampally after the latter allegedly did not protect government lands, but the next day a government order revoked the surrender and reinstated the Tahsildar in the same place and position.

The order was challenged in High Court by activist groups, resulting in a directive that Mr. Rao should not be allowed to be part of any official duty till further orders.

Subsequently, the Tahsildar was transferred and just a week before the Collector’s transfer orders arrived.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.