Telangana HC bars govt from evicting landowners for Musi project

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has restrained the state government from dispossessing landowners in Gandipet whose properties are proposed for acquisition for the Musi Rejuvenation Project.

Justice K Sharath passed the interim order while hearing petitions from five landowners who challenged the acquisition of 9.08 acre in Dargah Khaleez Khan village, Gandipet.

The petitioners contended that their properties had been exempted from the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and that authorities were moving forward with the acquisition without properly considering their objections.

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior counsel K Vivek Reddy submitted that the properties fell within a bio-conservation zone and were about 500 metres from the Himayathsagar reservoir.

The petitioners also alleged that authorities had bypassed mandatory social impact assessments and other procedures without establishing public interest or urgency.

They said that their objections were mechanically rejected, no detailed project report was placed in the public domain and that the authorities were trying to acquire a strip of 100-200 metres even after specifying a 50-metre riverfront buffer zone.

Additional Advocate General T Rajinikanth Reddy opposed interim relief and sought time to file a detailed counter-affidavit. He said that statutory requirements were being followed and assured that the landowners would not be dispossessed until an inquiry was completed.

The matter has been adjourned for two weeks, and the government has been asked to submit a detailed response.