Bhu Bharati unearths Dharani’s land scam

Hyderabad: The Telangana Government has unearthed a multi-crore land scam’. Over 15,000 acres of premium land valued more than Rs 1-lakh crore across the state and mainly in the Greater Hyderabad limits were encroached by misusing the much ‘controversial’ Dharani portal during the previous BRS government. This came to light when the Revenue department investigated the sale of government and unclaimed land ever since the Dharani portal was launched in 2020 by replacing the decades old land revenue management system. 

Taking serious note of the illegal occupation of the costly government land, the government has decided to conduct a forensic audit of the land to bring out the details of the sale of land and the transfer of land in the name of influential persons in the Greater Hyderabad area.

Close on the heels of introducing ‘Bhu Bharathi’ in place of Dharani, the state revenue wing analysed the details of the maintenance of government land records particularly in the ‘Part B’, which is considered as prohibited land, in the portal.

The charge is that the CCLA allegedly transferred the ownership of the land in the name of some influential persons and then registered them. “The CCLA authorities were working on the instructions of the then BRS top leaders who gobbled up the expensive land. The CMO and CCLA worked in close coordination in the encroachment of these lands and caused huge loss to the state, claims the government. It is said that CCLA was the only authority to access the details of the land listed in Part B. In another big case, 10,000 acres of assigned land in the Ibrahimpatnam Assembly constituency limits have been taken away from the poor beneficiaries in the guise of developmental projects by paying meagre compensation. These lands, it is said, were owned by some realtors who were close to top BRS leaders.

Top sources said that the extent of encroached land in each survey number in the GHMC limits was recorded and the details were ready and would be made public anytime. Under the new Bhu Bharathi system, the government said all the details of the encroached land will also be compiled and action would be taken accordingly.

The role of the then Revenue officials mainly the CCLA and Revenue Secretary and the top leaders during the BRS rule would be ascertained in the next level probe soon, sources told Hans India.