HYDERABAD: The highly desired neighborhoods of Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, and the adjacent Shaikpet mandal continue to grapple with long-standing land disputes. Housing societies and private landowners are embroiled in legal confrontations with the state government.
What started decades ago has transformed into a complicated web of conflicting claims, fraudulent survey numbers, and unresolved land records, leaving thousands of acres in litigation.
Officials estimate that approximately 2,000 acres in the Hyderabad district are disputed, with societies and individuals asserting ownership over land designated as state property. Revenue authorities recognize that inconsistencies in records, inadequate boundary delineation, and outdated surveys have exacerbated these disputes.
The conflict encompasses not just the Yamuna Nagar Housing Society in Banjara Hills, which contests overlapping claims with plots auctioned by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, but also numerous housing societies in Shaikpet mandal challenging government ownership assertions.
The Town Survey Land Records (TSLR) survey, conducted nearly 60 years ago, has not definitively settled ownership, resulting in incomplete land records even now.
A notable case involves the Godavari Cooperative House Building Society in Banjara Hills. Established in 1982 with around 120 members, the society claims ownership of 10 acres on Road No. 10. The government contested the title shortly after the purchase, leading to extended litigation that eventually reached the Supreme Court. Although there was a proposal to regularize the land by charging a fee to members, it was ultimately discarded.
“The courts have mandated the mutation of the land in the revenue records first to the original owner (Raghunath), who sold it to the society, and then to the society itself. Proposals for regularization have been submitted on three occasions, but we remain optimistic for a favorable outcome,” said Rama Raju Vegesna, secretary of the Godavari Cooperative House Building Society.
Other housing societies in Banjara Hills are encountering similar disputes, with Radhika Housing Society disputing ownership of 10 acres and Great Banjara Society engaged in conflict over part of its 14-acre holding.
Experts in land surveys argue that dependence on TSLR records is misguided. “TSLR survey entries do not definitively prove title and should not be considered records of rights,” noted Ch V Subba Rao, a retired joint director of the land survey and settlement department. He added that only 14 of Hyderabad’s 16 mandals received thorough surveys, while two were only partially surveyed.
He further explained that challenging terrain in regions like Shaikpet, characterized by rocky and uneven landscapes, complicates accurate surveys. “Today, we have advanced tools like rovers and differential GPS for precise measurements, whereas earlier surveys were done manually with minimal instruments,” he stated.
A senior revenue official who worked in Shaikpet mentioned that these disputes originated in the 1980s. In 1989, the government assigned a special-grade deputy collector to investigate and discovered instances of fraudulent survey numbers being used to encroach on government land.
“One cooperative housing society in Shaikpet mandal currently occupies 120 to 150 acres beyond its original allocation; however, structures have been developed on this land over the past three decades,” revealed a former MRO of Shaikpet.
The problem is not confined to the city’s affluent areas. Colonies in Khairatabad, Tarnaka, Boudhanagar, and parts of the Old City continue to face obstacles due to outdated land records and unresolved TSLR-related issues. Homeowners often find themselves unable to sell properties classified as assigned, government, or railway land in revenue records.
Authorities say these issues often emerge when residents seek building permissions through the GHMC, as their applications are directed to the revenue department, where thorough scrutiny can reveal discrepancies in the age-old TSLR survey records, reigniting long-standing conflicts.
