Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court made it clear that Patadal is only eligible for partial compensation for the submerged portion if affected by any land during the process of fixing the entire tank level or buffer zone of the lake.
The Court also noted that in the process, the affected parties have no right to object to the cancellation of the encroachment or to claim any right under the scope of irrigation under the Farasley 1357 Irrigation Act.
Judge CV Bhaskar Reddy also announced that under any means under Article 47 of the Act, the government has no authority to regulate tank beds, buffers, FTL and Sikkam land. Furthermore, the judge cautioned that under Article 47, the tank bed area or ongoing existing occupancy shall not be granted to any Pata unless compensation is provided for the submerged part of the occupied territories.
The court said that under the Irrigation Act, the irrigation officer/tax officer granted the power to remove the encroachment under section 49.
Justice Bhaskar Reddy is dealing with a petition filed by Sri Sai Housing Cooperation Association Ltd., which purchased 10 acres of land in Investigation No. 175 (part) and 171 (part) in Bachupally, Quthbullapur Mandal, for the purpose of its members. The income and irrigation authorities designated 3 acres and 18 guntas in the village’s survey No. 171 as FTL for Amber Cheruvu.
The social dissatisfaction is that there is no chance to prove that the land is not in the FTL before the preliminary notice of boundaries is issued. The association complained that the preliminary notice of FTL was issued without representation.
In this case, the judge made it clear that there was no ban on irrigation and tax authorities from issuing preliminary or final notices on fixed tank/pool boundaries. Persons affected by FTL fixedness have the right to submit their objections to support supporting documents that support their claims. The court said only the affected Patada were entitled to compensation.
The court also directed the authorities to issue a final notice within six weeks and to pass appropriate orders to review and consider statements and objections submitted by the association.
