Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Hyderabad City News july 26th,2006
Scam lurks under State land purchase
Hyderabad, July 26: Influential people in the government have made crores of rupees on land deals with a simple three-step method, using agencies like the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.
Hundreds of acres of land have changed hands by this simple method: 1. Get land acquisition announced and drive down the prices of land to be acquired. 2. Buy land cheap from panicky sellers. 3. Get acquisition withdrawn. One example is Vattinagulapalli. The APIIC moved a proposal to acquire 229.29 acres on 12 January, 2005, in several survey numbers including 70 to 73, 118 to 126, 133 to 135 and 137 to 139.
A contractor, a pharmaceutical group and a film producer almost immediately stepped in and bought off the lands. “When the rate was Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.25 crores in Vattinagulapalli, they bought land for Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 30 lakhs,” V.N. Prasad, a local landowner, told this correspondent.
The APIIC then proposed withdrawal of the acquisition move. “There will be many restrictions on land use because the area is covered under GO Ms No. 111 which regulates growth in the 10-km radius of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar,” a senior APIIC official said.
It took one-and-a-half years for the corporation to that there were restrictions. To date, the withdrawal has not been officially announced. Since May 2004 when the Congress took over, the APIIC has proposed acquiring 4,508.36 acres of land for IT parks and 2,958.09 acres for industrial purposes in Ranga Reddy district.
Another 5,500 acres has been acquired or is in the process of acquisition by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority for the Outer Ring Road and 3,000 acres for the satellite townships.
In Gopanapally, transactions went on despite litigation over acquistion of 439.15 acres in several survey numbers including 145 to 152, 158 to 163 and 267 to 286. Following the APIIC move, some landowners approached court and obtained status quo.
“Contrary to our fears that registrations will be hampered if the case is in the Supreme Court, several people made transactions as can be seen from number of registrations,” a senior official of the stamps and registration department told this correspondent. After the first requisition was made on January 10, 2005, registrations took place in June, October, November in 2005 and March 2006.
The APIIC withdrewing a proposal to acquire land in Poppalaguda just when the Ranga Reddy district administration had completed the process. The APIIC board meeting passed a resolution withdrawing the acquisition. “The lands were knocked off by influential people about a year ago for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 35 lakh against the market rate of Rs 2 crore and above,” sources said. The government transferred a senior APIIC official reportedly for objecting to withdrawal of acquisition.
The list of hit-and-run APIIC acqisition is long. Here is a sample:
* The APIIC is considering withdrawal of acquisition of 565.16 acres in Gundlapochampally in survey numbers 510 to 512 and 520 to 522.
* APIIC proposed a Discovery City and sent requisition to the Ranga Reddy district collectorate on December 23, 2004. Then the corporation sent an intimation hinting at withdrawal.
* APIIC proposed hardware park in Bongloor in Ibrahimpatnam mandal and sent requisition on January 12, 2005, but has decided to withdraw it.
In January 2006, the APIIC proposed to acquire 1,148.12 acres in Sitarampur village of Shabad mandal and 1,245.39 acres in Aloor village of Chevella mandal for establishing industrial parks. The district officials are apprehensive about the fate of the acquisition proposal keeping in view the previous instances.
Porters to get bomb lessons
Hyderabad, July 26: Following the 11/7 Mumbai serial blasts, railway porters and vendors on the Secunderabad railway station will be trained to spot bombs from Friday in a new measure to improve security at railway stations.
The station’s 350 licensed porters and 40 authorised vendors will be trained to identify improvised explosive devices (IED) and other types of bombs and explosives. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and city police personnel will also train them to react in case a bomb does go off on the platforms or in trains.
The first training session will begin on Friday at 11.30 am on Platforms 6 and 7. In attendance will be RPF chief security commissioner B. Kamal Kumar and additional commissioner of police, crime, Rajeev Trivedi. When contacted, Mr Kumar said, “The programme is aimed at sensitising porters and vendors who are always on the platforms and interacting with commuters. We will teach them how a bomb could look like and what should they do when they spot one.
A police official, speaking about the training, said, “When they spot a bomb or a suspicious object or baggage they should inform us. They should not run in panic.” If a blast does occur, “they should be able to help the commuters in evacuating the place.”
Police said that special focus was being laid on Platforms 6 and 7 as MMTS trains halted there. Announcements would be made round the clock asking commuters to alert the police if they find any suspicious objects or baggage in the trains. The programme will be extended to Hyderabad (Nampally), Kachiguda railway stations and others in cities like Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam and Tirupati.
The city police official said, “The Secunderabad railway station was on the terror hitlist. This was confirmed after Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were arrested in the city six months ago. Since then they have installed surveillance cameras and beefed up security.”
World Bank may fund R&R
Hyderabad, July 26: The World Bank is working on a scheme to fund the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of evacuees displaced by the Jalayagnam irrigation projects. A team of the World Bank officials briefly met with irrigation secretary Satish Chandra on Wednesday to discuss the R&R policy formulated by the State government, and changes to make it more effective and remunerative. “The World Bank officials collected material pertaining to rehabilitation packages and said they would get back with a comprehensive module,” sources in the department said.
The State government is implementing R&R schemes mainly for major projects like Indirasagar (Polavaram), Pulichintala, Thotapally, Gundlakamma and Sripadasagar besides medium irrigation schemes like Veligallu. The total expenditure is Rs 7,000 crore and the State government is paying a part of that from the annual budget. Sources said that the State government has not formally submitted any proposal on the matter, and the World Bank had itself offered to provide lending.
The World Bank has come out with a series of reforms in the irrigation sector as part of its overall structural reforms plan. It has recommended restructuring of the irrigation department into five corporations — one each for the Upper Krishna, Lower Krishna, Upper Godavari, Lower Godavari and Penna — on the lines of power distribution companies.
A water regulatory authority would have to be constituted (on the lines of AP Electricity Regulatory Commission) to regulate water charges to be collected from farmers, depending on the cropping pattern and entrusting maintenance of lift irrigation schemes to water users associations who have to pay for them. The government’s decision to ban paddy under lift irrigation schemes is also considered to be part of the overall reforms process, department sources said.
Sales tax to come down by 1 per cent
Hyderabad, July 26: Central Sales Tax (CST) will be reduced by one per cent from October 1. The Empowered committee has decided to cut CST from the present 4 per cent to 3 per cent, according to minister for commercial taxes Konatala Ramakrishna. “The Empowered committee has decided to reduce the CST by one per cent. We will ask the Centre to adjust the revenue loss from this against the State’s share of taxes,” Mr Ramakrishna said.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy reviewed the performance of commercial taxes department along with commercial taxes minister, principal secretary (finance) P. Ramakanth Reddy, finance secretary N. Ramesh Kumar, commissioner (commercial taxes) T. S. Appa Rao, and special commissioner Suresh Chanda among others.
The Chief Minister was informed that the department realised Rs 3,560 crore taxes as against the target of Rs 3,150 crore, a growth of 105 per cent. Dr Rajasekhar Reddy asked officials to evolve an audit mechanism in the commercial taxes department to refund input tax. He said the proposed audit services should be expeditiously taken up to refund the amounts from commercial taxes department.
Rights panel issues notice to commissioner
Hyderabad, July 26: State Human Rights commission (SHRC) on Wednesday issued notices to commissioner of police A.K. Moha-nty on the alleged ‘custodial’ death of an autorickshaw driver, Shaik Ali Pasha, 55, who was interrogated by Santoshnagar police.The SHRC took up the death of Ali Pasha as a suo motu case and called for a report from the Hyderabad commissioner of police.
SHRC reportedly asked the commissioner to give a detailed report by September 11. Santoshnagar police has already booked a case as per the complaint filed by the wife of the deceased and are investigating. South Zone DCP Sandeep Shandilya said that the inquest report by Revenue officials gave a clean chit to the police.
Meanwhile, post mortem was conducted on the body of Ali Pasha at the Osmania General Hospital morgue. “Osmania forensic docto-rs, who conducted an autopsy, said that there were neither internal nor external injuries on the body of Shaik Ali Pasha. This means that there was no torture by the police. Even the illegal custody allegation is being ruled out in the inquest report. Police called him for questioning and let him off. The death didn’t occur in the police station or in the custody of the police,” said Mr Shandilya.
Santoshnagar inspector S. Sai Krishna, who was put on suspension late on Tuesday, is likely to resume his duties as the inquest report gave a clean chit to the cops.
AP faces 1st drought under YSR
Hyderabad, July 26: The State is facing its first drought under the Rajasekhar Reddy government. Around 12 districts are reeling under drought and crops in as much as 4.53 lakh hectares (about 10 lakh acres) in 12 districts, mostly in Telangana and Rayalaseema, are on the brink of withering away.
Medak, Ranga Reddy, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapur and Prakasam are the worst hit due to drought. Crops affected include greengram, maize, cotton, redgram, jowar, blackgram, groundnut, castor, bajra, sesame, sugarcane, tobacco, chillies and ragi.
Worried over the prevailing drought conditions, the government has asked all the district collectors to put the contingency plans on the roll and to review the situation daily and report the same to CMO.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who held a video conference with agriculture minister N. Raghuveera Reddy and other officials instructed the collectors that agriculture staff should not be deputed to panchayat elections and ensure availability of seeds and other agricultural inputs to farmers. “Please try to provide moral support to farmers in view of the drought like conditions. We are still hopeful of good monsoon. Farmers should not feel dejected,” Dr Rajasekhar Reddy said.
As against the normal area of 45.01 lakh hectares to be sown as on July 25, the actual area sown was 29.77 lakh hectares. Officials say that 15.24 lakh hectares has been remained unsown. The State recorded 40 per cent deficient rainfall. As against the normal rainfall of 268.9 mm, the State received 162.7 mm.
Panel to check tyagis’ issues
Hyderabad July 26: A division bench of the AP High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to constitute a committee to redress the grievances of freedom fighters seeking pension. The bench was dealing with a batch of writ petitions filed challenging the inaction of the government in screening the applications and granting pension to those who participated in the freedom struggle. The bench was informed by the revenue secretary that there were several applications pending consideration and a committee would be constituted to look into this aspect.
3 in race for top post
Hyderabad, July 26: Three Maoist leaders are in the race for the post of CPI (Maoist) State committee secretary. The need to appoint a new secretary arose as Madhav, the top State Maoist, was killed in an encounter in the dense Nallamala forests of Prakasam district on Sunday.
The next secretary is expected to be picked from among Sakamuri Appa Rao, Patel Sudhakar Reddy and Sadhe Rajamouli. According to Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) officials, the selection of the new secretary may not be conducted immediately. “The State and Central committees have to decide on the appointment of the secretary and it may take two to three months.”
“Usually a person with intellectual skills is appointed as the State chief of the party,” said an SIB official. “The secretary post is a key one as he has to decide on procuring arms, raising and distribution of funds and deployment of dalams,” the official said.
Hyderabad, July 26: Influential people in the government have made crores of rupees on land deals with a simple three-step method, using agencies like the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.
Hundreds of acres of land have changed hands by this simple method: 1. Get land acquisition announced and drive down the prices of land to be acquired. 2. Buy land cheap from panicky sellers. 3. Get acquisition withdrawn. One example is Vattinagulapalli. The APIIC moved a proposal to acquire 229.29 acres on 12 January, 2005, in several survey numbers including 70 to 73, 118 to 126, 133 to 135 and 137 to 139.
A contractor, a pharmaceutical group and a film producer almost immediately stepped in and bought off the lands. “When the rate was Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.25 crores in Vattinagulapalli, they bought land for Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 30 lakhs,” V.N. Prasad, a local landowner, told this correspondent.
The APIIC then proposed withdrawal of the acquisition move. “There will be many restrictions on land use because the area is covered under GO Ms No. 111 which regulates growth in the 10-km radius of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar,” a senior APIIC official said.
It took one-and-a-half years for the corporation to that there were restrictions. To date, the withdrawal has not been officially announced. Since May 2004 when the Congress took over, the APIIC has proposed acquiring 4,508.36 acres of land for IT parks and 2,958.09 acres for industrial purposes in Ranga Reddy district.
Another 5,500 acres has been acquired or is in the process of acquisition by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority for the Outer Ring Road and 3,000 acres for the satellite townships.
In Gopanapally, transactions went on despite litigation over acquistion of 439.15 acres in several survey numbers including 145 to 152, 158 to 163 and 267 to 286. Following the APIIC move, some landowners approached court and obtained status quo.
“Contrary to our fears that registrations will be hampered if the case is in the Supreme Court, several people made transactions as can be seen from number of registrations,” a senior official of the stamps and registration department told this correspondent. After the first requisition was made on January 10, 2005, registrations took place in June, October, November in 2005 and March 2006.
The APIIC withdrewing a proposal to acquire land in Poppalaguda just when the Ranga Reddy district administration had completed the process. The APIIC board meeting passed a resolution withdrawing the acquisition. “The lands were knocked off by influential people about a year ago for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 35 lakh against the market rate of Rs 2 crore and above,” sources said. The government transferred a senior APIIC official reportedly for objecting to withdrawal of acquisition.
The list of hit-and-run APIIC acqisition is long. Here is a sample:
* The APIIC is considering withdrawal of acquisition of 565.16 acres in Gundlapochampally in survey numbers 510 to 512 and 520 to 522.
* APIIC proposed a Discovery City and sent requisition to the Ranga Reddy district collectorate on December 23, 2004. Then the corporation sent an intimation hinting at withdrawal.
* APIIC proposed hardware park in Bongloor in Ibrahimpatnam mandal and sent requisition on January 12, 2005, but has decided to withdraw it.
In January 2006, the APIIC proposed to acquire 1,148.12 acres in Sitarampur village of Shabad mandal and 1,245.39 acres in Aloor village of Chevella mandal for establishing industrial parks. The district officials are apprehensive about the fate of the acquisition proposal keeping in view the previous instances.
Porters to get bomb lessons
Hyderabad, July 26: Following the 11/7 Mumbai serial blasts, railway porters and vendors on the Secunderabad railway station will be trained to spot bombs from Friday in a new measure to improve security at railway stations.
The station’s 350 licensed porters and 40 authorised vendors will be trained to identify improvised explosive devices (IED) and other types of bombs and explosives. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and city police personnel will also train them to react in case a bomb does go off on the platforms or in trains.
The first training session will begin on Friday at 11.30 am on Platforms 6 and 7. In attendance will be RPF chief security commissioner B. Kamal Kumar and additional commissioner of police, crime, Rajeev Trivedi. When contacted, Mr Kumar said, “The programme is aimed at sensitising porters and vendors who are always on the platforms and interacting with commuters. We will teach them how a bomb could look like and what should they do when they spot one.
A police official, speaking about the training, said, “When they spot a bomb or a suspicious object or baggage they should inform us. They should not run in panic.” If a blast does occur, “they should be able to help the commuters in evacuating the place.”
Police said that special focus was being laid on Platforms 6 and 7 as MMTS trains halted there. Announcements would be made round the clock asking commuters to alert the police if they find any suspicious objects or baggage in the trains. The programme will be extended to Hyderabad (Nampally), Kachiguda railway stations and others in cities like Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam and Tirupati.
The city police official said, “The Secunderabad railway station was on the terror hitlist. This was confirmed after Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were arrested in the city six months ago. Since then they have installed surveillance cameras and beefed up security.”
World Bank may fund R&R
Hyderabad, July 26: The World Bank is working on a scheme to fund the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of evacuees displaced by the Jalayagnam irrigation projects. A team of the World Bank officials briefly met with irrigation secretary Satish Chandra on Wednesday to discuss the R&R policy formulated by the State government, and changes to make it more effective and remunerative. “The World Bank officials collected material pertaining to rehabilitation packages and said they would get back with a comprehensive module,” sources in the department said.
The State government is implementing R&R schemes mainly for major projects like Indirasagar (Polavaram), Pulichintala, Thotapally, Gundlakamma and Sripadasagar besides medium irrigation schemes like Veligallu. The total expenditure is Rs 7,000 crore and the State government is paying a part of that from the annual budget. Sources said that the State government has not formally submitted any proposal on the matter, and the World Bank had itself offered to provide lending.
The World Bank has come out with a series of reforms in the irrigation sector as part of its overall structural reforms plan. It has recommended restructuring of the irrigation department into five corporations — one each for the Upper Krishna, Lower Krishna, Upper Godavari, Lower Godavari and Penna — on the lines of power distribution companies.
A water regulatory authority would have to be constituted (on the lines of AP Electricity Regulatory Commission) to regulate water charges to be collected from farmers, depending on the cropping pattern and entrusting maintenance of lift irrigation schemes to water users associations who have to pay for them. The government’s decision to ban paddy under lift irrigation schemes is also considered to be part of the overall reforms process, department sources said.
Sales tax to come down by 1 per cent
Hyderabad, July 26: Central Sales Tax (CST) will be reduced by one per cent from October 1. The Empowered committee has decided to cut CST from the present 4 per cent to 3 per cent, according to minister for commercial taxes Konatala Ramakrishna. “The Empowered committee has decided to reduce the CST by one per cent. We will ask the Centre to adjust the revenue loss from this against the State’s share of taxes,” Mr Ramakrishna said.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy reviewed the performance of commercial taxes department along with commercial taxes minister, principal secretary (finance) P. Ramakanth Reddy, finance secretary N. Ramesh Kumar, commissioner (commercial taxes) T. S. Appa Rao, and special commissioner Suresh Chanda among others.
The Chief Minister was informed that the department realised Rs 3,560 crore taxes as against the target of Rs 3,150 crore, a growth of 105 per cent. Dr Rajasekhar Reddy asked officials to evolve an audit mechanism in the commercial taxes department to refund input tax. He said the proposed audit services should be expeditiously taken up to refund the amounts from commercial taxes department.
Rights panel issues notice to commissioner
Hyderabad, July 26: State Human Rights commission (SHRC) on Wednesday issued notices to commissioner of police A.K. Moha-nty on the alleged ‘custodial’ death of an autorickshaw driver, Shaik Ali Pasha, 55, who was interrogated by Santoshnagar police.The SHRC took up the death of Ali Pasha as a suo motu case and called for a report from the Hyderabad commissioner of police.
SHRC reportedly asked the commissioner to give a detailed report by September 11. Santoshnagar police has already booked a case as per the complaint filed by the wife of the deceased and are investigating. South Zone DCP Sandeep Shandilya said that the inquest report by Revenue officials gave a clean chit to the police.
Meanwhile, post mortem was conducted on the body of Ali Pasha at the Osmania General Hospital morgue. “Osmania forensic docto-rs, who conducted an autopsy, said that there were neither internal nor external injuries on the body of Shaik Ali Pasha. This means that there was no torture by the police. Even the illegal custody allegation is being ruled out in the inquest report. Police called him for questioning and let him off. The death didn’t occur in the police station or in the custody of the police,” said Mr Shandilya.
Santoshnagar inspector S. Sai Krishna, who was put on suspension late on Tuesday, is likely to resume his duties as the inquest report gave a clean chit to the cops.
AP faces 1st drought under YSR
Hyderabad, July 26: The State is facing its first drought under the Rajasekhar Reddy government. Around 12 districts are reeling under drought and crops in as much as 4.53 lakh hectares (about 10 lakh acres) in 12 districts, mostly in Telangana and Rayalaseema, are on the brink of withering away.
Medak, Ranga Reddy, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapur and Prakasam are the worst hit due to drought. Crops affected include greengram, maize, cotton, redgram, jowar, blackgram, groundnut, castor, bajra, sesame, sugarcane, tobacco, chillies and ragi.
Worried over the prevailing drought conditions, the government has asked all the district collectors to put the contingency plans on the roll and to review the situation daily and report the same to CMO.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who held a video conference with agriculture minister N. Raghuveera Reddy and other officials instructed the collectors that agriculture staff should not be deputed to panchayat elections and ensure availability of seeds and other agricultural inputs to farmers. “Please try to provide moral support to farmers in view of the drought like conditions. We are still hopeful of good monsoon. Farmers should not feel dejected,” Dr Rajasekhar Reddy said.
As against the normal area of 45.01 lakh hectares to be sown as on July 25, the actual area sown was 29.77 lakh hectares. Officials say that 15.24 lakh hectares has been remained unsown. The State recorded 40 per cent deficient rainfall. As against the normal rainfall of 268.9 mm, the State received 162.7 mm.
Panel to check tyagis’ issues
Hyderabad July 26: A division bench of the AP High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to constitute a committee to redress the grievances of freedom fighters seeking pension. The bench was dealing with a batch of writ petitions filed challenging the inaction of the government in screening the applications and granting pension to those who participated in the freedom struggle. The bench was informed by the revenue secretary that there were several applications pending consideration and a committee would be constituted to look into this aspect.
3 in race for top post
Hyderabad, July 26: Three Maoist leaders are in the race for the post of CPI (Maoist) State committee secretary. The need to appoint a new secretary arose as Madhav, the top State Maoist, was killed in an encounter in the dense Nallamala forests of Prakasam district on Sunday.
The next secretary is expected to be picked from among Sakamuri Appa Rao, Patel Sudhakar Reddy and Sadhe Rajamouli. According to Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) officials, the selection of the new secretary may not be conducted immediately. “The State and Central committees have to decide on the appointment of the secretary and it may take two to three months.”
“Usually a person with intellectual skills is appointed as the State chief of the party,” said an SIB official. “The secretary post is a key one as he has to decide on procuring arms, raising and distribution of funds and deployment of dalams,” the official said.
