ADILABAD: Land sharks have an astounding appetite because they gobble up any land that comes their way. Even in Adilabad they are ruling the roost by colluding with municipal officers.While there are rumours that the land value has fallen sharply in the Telangana region, land grabbers on the other side, are bringing every bit of land under their possession, legally or otherwise. Municipal officers in the district are selling out leased lands to these sharks without anyone's notice. These lands were leased by the municipality in 1969, 1974 and 1980.According to rules, if land was between 31 and 50 square yards, the rent for it is Rs 1 per year and the rent for 100 to 600 square yards was Rs 50 per year. The rules of the municipal department also mention that it has to raise the rent for leased land by 33.33 per cent in every three years. But, sources say that the officials have violated rules and instead of increasing rent, they are selling leased lands by registering the lands by giving fake documents to the clients buying these lands.Officials have earned about Rs 150 crore by selling out some of the leased lands in the district. But, municipal records show that there are only 24 lands of the total 42 lands. The records of sold out lands also have gone missing. The 24 lands records show that, three were used for roadwidening of National Highway.According to sources in Bhukthapur, the 40 to 100 square yards municipal land was leased in July 1984 for Rs 400 per year. But, in 2006, revenue officers had registered the land on their name. This incident came to light four months ago.After this, the family members approached the municipal office for papers of the land and realized that the value of the land currently was Rs 8 crore.In 2001, municipal officials had allotted land for a cinema theatre by charging rent of Rs 2.50 per year. But, officials are earning more than 32 lakhs every year as shops and other commercial establishments have been constructed illegally in the surroundings.Even the district collector and other officials have agreed that many buildings have been constructed illegally in leased lands.
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