Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority to compensate Uppal land losers with plots

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority(HMDA) has decided to allot plots to property owners of Uppal Bhagat who had to part with their land to facilitate the Hyderabad Metro Rail project as well as the Musi beautification project. Plots would be allotted on a lottery basis, within a week. This move by the authority comes almost six years after land was acquired from them.

MA &UD department issues GO regarding package for land losers:

Incidentally, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA & UD) department had issued a Government Order (GO) in January, 2011, with regards the package to be allotted for those whose land had been displaced. The allotment process got delayed as the authority was in a dilemma with regards the distribution of plots to land losers.

733 acres of land acquired for HMRL and HMWS&SB projects:

About 733 acres of land was acquired by the HMDA from farmers of Uppal Bhagat for the metro rail project as well as the Musi beautification project. Out of this, about 104 acres of land was allotted to the Hyderabad metro rail project while 150 acres was set aside for the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) for constructing a sewage treatment plant (STP). As a compensation, both these departments had agreed to pay Rs.25 lakh per acre for the development of a layout in the land allocated to those whose land was usurped.

624 land owners express consent to take developed plots as compensation:

As many as 624 land owners had given their consent to take developed plots from the HMDA in compensation for the land they had to part with. Some of the land owners whose land was acquired by the HMDA have not been listed for land compensation. This is due to the fact that there were various issues associated with the land proposed to be given as compensation like multiple claims or no claimants

413-acre layout proposed for land losers:

According to the agreement between the authority and the land owners, it was proposed that 1,000 sq.yards of developed land would be provided to the land losers as a compensation for every acre of land acquired from them. The 413- acre layout meant for the land losers were divided into individual plots measuring 150, 200, 300, 500 and 1,000 sq.yards, proposed to be allocated to the land owners.

Land owners can buy or sell extra land than allocated:

For farmers who lost less than an acre of land, like for instance, several guntas, they were to be compensated with land of sizes measuring either 325 or 615 sq.yards. In such instances, the authority provided property owners the option of either buying additional land or selling it to adjacent property owners.  If a land owner is allocated 625 sq.yards of land as compensation, he has to either buy or sell 25 sq.yards at government value.

Land owners put forward fresh demands:

Due to the proximity of the developed plots to the metro depot at Nagole, many property owners were willing to buy additional land. Meanwhile, property owners have approached the authority with fresh demands like converting the developed plot area into a multiple land use zone, setback relaxation to construct buildings as well as waiving property tax for a stipulated period. While the demands of property owners would be forwarded to the corporation, decisions with regards to exemptions and reliefs would be taken by the GHMC as the area falls under the municipal corporation.