K MADHAVA RAO Vs. STATE OF A P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners who are three in number challenge the notification issued under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short Act) in Form 2-A published in A.P. Gazette dated 23.8.2005 insofar as it relates to their lands comprising survey Nos.460, 461 and 462 in Uppal Bhagath Village, Uppal Mandal, R.R. District.

(2.) The case of the petitioners, in brief, is : The 1st petitioner purchased Ac.0.30 guntas of land in S.No.460. He gifted it to 2nd petitioner who is his wife under a gift deed dated 15.3.2002. 3rd petitioner is the owner of Ac.0.17 guntas in S.No.460, Ac.2.12 guntas in S.No.461 and Ac.1.08 guntas in S.No.462 at Uppal Bhagath, Uppal Mandal, R.R. District. The land is being used for growing grass. Eucalyptus trees fence it. It is situated adjacent to Uppal main road which joins national highway No.9-Hyderabad to Vijayawada. Towards south of the petitioners land at a distance of 900 meters river moosi is located which runs from East to West. The Government issued notification for acquisition of land for public purpose viz. Moosi River Conservation and River Front Development at Uppal Bhagath, Uppal Mandal. Eight similar notifications have been issued for acquisition of Ac.833.27 guntas of land for the said purpose. The notification, according to the petitioners, is absolutely vague and it does not give minimum details to understand the purpose and file objections effectively. The notification does not speak of the availability of any plan of the lands proposed to be acquired for public purpose in the office of respondents for inspection so as to enable the affected parties like the petitioners to peruse the same and file their objections. The enquiries made by the petitioners reveal that there is no plan of action in support of the proposed public purpose. A publication made in Times of India daily newspaper dated 31.5.2005 indicates that beautification plan for river Moosi is ready by dividing into two zones i.e., a Garden Zone and Heritage Zone. It further reads that Garden zone will be developed on 1600 acres of area with gardens, land scapping, park with amusement facilities like roller coaster, art plaza, food courts, open auditoriums for cultural events and golf course. The news item further reads that heritage zone provides for protecting heritage buildings like High Court, Salar Jung Museum, City Library etc. The news item, the petitioners plead published in Times of India on 31.5.2005 is based on the information given by the Commissioner of Municpal Corporation of Hyderabad and others. The power of eminent domain of the State to acquire private lands can be invoked only to serve public purpose and the said power of eminent domain cannot be invoked for purpose other than public purpose. For better understanding of the grievance of the petitioners, I deem it appropriate to refer para 9 of the writ affidavit and it is thus:

(3.) Respondents filed counter affidavit. One S.P.Singh has sworn to the counter affidavit. It is stated in the counter affidavit that river Moosi was the life line of Hyderabad and it has become so badly polluted due to increase of population of Hyderabad, release of industrial effluents and untreated sewer, unfit for any human activity. Hence the State Government conceived various projects including Nandanavanam but the said project did not materialize. However, a comprehensive scheme is now conceived with the coordination of all the departments concerned and for the said purpose the State government has constituted a departmental committee vide G.O.Ms.No.330, dated 23.4.2005. The said committee looked into all aspects and recast the entire strategies in consultation with the School of Planning and Architecture, JNTU, Hyderabad which has undertaken comprehensive work on river Moosi including technical and hyper technical study pertaining to it. 4th respondent has presented modalities of the project. Key issues identified are. - pollution, encroachments, inaccessibility, incompatible land uses, heritage and natural vistas and under utilization of open spaces. It was emphasized that the highest flood level between the existing river bed and bank should be the critical design parameter. The projected project is categorized into 6 components namely - Environmental upgradation of the river, road infrastructure, heritage conservation, rehabilitation, administrative actions and design development and growth corridors. After discussions and deliberations, various decisions were taken. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Works and Sewerage Board should complete the first phase of sewerage project within 15 months time and the entire project should be completed within 30 months. The HUDA is an agency for implementing ecological and metropolitan precinct. The MCH will be the agency to implement heritage precinct. The river front development zone would be constituted with special regulation for the development of properties. All the implementing agencies would be constituted as Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which can help in mobilizing resources and coordinating activities. HUDA is required to complete the land acquisition work in coordination with the collectors of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy Districts within 45 days. Accordingly action plan for Phases I and II were approved. The land proposed to be acquired under the impugned notification is marshy (slushy) land and the said land is not fit for agricultural activity and presently the said land is being used for raising grass. The land is surrounded by Moosi River on one side and nala on the other side which form as natural barrier from the main land. Though the petitioners contend that their land is 900 meters away from Musi River, but it is clear that the said land forms part of marshy land, and forms part of entire project. It is always open to the petitioners to participate in the enquiry to be conducted under section 5-A of the Act and put forth their objections. The entire project to be implementation involves saving river Moosi and restoring the same to its original glory.