Delays dog LRS cases as applications pile-up

Hyderabad: The lack of clarity on the ownership of the lands in the urban local bodies is leading to delay in the processing of the LRS applications. While the applications are in thousands in the Municipalities and Municipal Corporations, the authorities have processed just ten per cent of these applications.

According to sources, out of the 13,82,489 applications received in all the 144 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the State, only 2,21,187 applications were processed till date and the amount collected was Rs 10.93 crore. Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) has highest number of applications 1,01,341 followed by the Corporations like Turkyamjal with over 50,000, Badangpet Municipal Corporation with over 48,000, over 35,000 in Suryapet, over 32,000 in Siddipet, over 31,000 in Mahabubnagar and over 26,000 in Karimnagar Municipal Corporation.

According to official sources, there are several reasons for the delay in the processing of the applications. In some places, the processing of the applications was delayed because of the impact of HYDRA. The applications are processed as per level one, two and three based on the checklist. If there are no supporting documents, the applications cannot be processed at level one. At other levels if the applicant fails to pay the prescribed fee, the application will not move forward, sources said. Besides this, the officials have no clarity on the ownership of the lands. Some of the applications received were from the restricted category, hence these applications are not processed, said an official who did not want to be quoted.

At many places, the total number of applications processed was just ten per cent. In Turkayamjal municipality, out of over 50,500 applications only 3,448 applications were processed collecting just over Rs 22 lakh. Similarly in Badangpet, out of the 48,000 odd applications, only 3,995 applications were processed collecting over Rs 29 lakh. In Suryapet, while the total applications were 35,632, the applications processed were 3,591 collecting over Rs 39 lakh.

In a recent meeting, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, expressing displeasure over slow pace of processing, had directed the officials to clear the LRS proposals on a war footing. He had told the officials that the LRS process was not going as expected by the government.