Hyderabad: The Telangana State Waqf Board (TSWB) has sent notices to 765 encroachers across the state.
In the past three months, the board has taken a tough stance against encroachments, by petitioning the Waqf tribunal, and has also issued hundreds of notices to alleged encroachers of Muslim endowed land parcels, media reports said.
According to The Hindu, as many as 765 notices under section 54 (1) of the Waqf Act of 1995 have been issued across Telangana. The act deals with detecting and asking encroachers to show cause as to their encroachment on Waqf properties.
Additionally, 21 notices under section 54 (3) of the same legislation have been served. It deals with knocking on the doors of the Waqf Tribunal seeking eviction of alleged encroachers.
Moreover, seeking removal of these alleged encroachments, the board has also filed as many as 63 cases in the Tribunal, as per media reports.
The Hindu quoted a board official who said “There have been concerted efforts by the board to set wheels in motion to take back waqf properties, and encroached lands. This is why around 500 illegal registrations of waqf properties got canceled earlier this year.”
The official reported further said that now, as a next step, notices have been sent, and cases have been filed in the Waqf Tribunal. “The board members are hoping for favorable orders. The board has been constantly in touch with the Hyderabad district administration to get back properties from the city as well,” he added.
Rentals issues
The Muslim endowments panel has been trying to renegotiate rentals derived from waqf properties as encroachments remain a perennial bother for the board.
“There were several attempts to revise paltry rentals, but this has met with little success. The properties where rentals should be increased include Waqf complexes in districts. The board has planned to convene a meeting on the issue on September 7,” the Hindu quoted from a source.
Survey work
The revenue Department and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials had surveyed a graveyard for the purpose of constructing Dignity Housing units.
Waqf Board Chairman Mohammed Saleem and Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav had conducted a joint inspection of the site, as per media reports.
While Mr. Saleem told the media that the issue would be put before the board, the Hindu claimed that sources said that the matter appears to have been postponed.