Tough action mooted against illegal conversion of farmland

The revenue officials are facing tough time due to the illegal conversion of agricultural land into residential plots by land owners.

The revenue officials are planning to act tough against a list of the plots that were carved out of agricultural land (File | EPS)

NELLORE: The revenue officials are facing tough time due to the illegal conversion of agricultural land into residential plots by land owners. It was found that illegal land conversions had allegedly been carried out on the city outskirts due to the rise in land prices.

The revenue officials are planning to act tough against a list of the plots that were carved out of agricultural land purportedly in violation of the Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Land (Conversion for Non-agriculture Purpose) Act, 2006.

Enquiries have so far revealed that the land owners allegedly converted the agricultural land into residential plots and sold them to buyers on General Power of Attorney agreements purportedly without paying any stamp duty, thus causing loss to the exchequer.

The landowners allegedly claimed that they had reached a settlement with the government officials concerned by paying a hefty amount to avoid any problem during the constructions and development of the colonies.

They also paved approach roads to the illegal plots and even got poles installed at several places to arrange electricity supply. Some of the illegal constructions also had electricity meters installed. The prescribed paper works for acquisition of land was not completed and the government was also deprived of the stamp duty.

“The GPA is not a mandatory document under the Registration Act. It has no evidentiary value,” said a government official. The officials concerned would be questioned under whom these areas fall to ascertain how constructions were allowed on those plots, despite the fact that several complaints were lodged in this regard. According to the complainants, no concrete legal action was taken to restore the affected agricultural lands.

No concrete legal action taken, say complainants

The rampant illegal conversion came to the notice of revenue officials recently through complaints
The complainants alleged that despite several alerts to the officials concerned, no concrete legal action had been taken to check illegal constructions

What the law says

• As per new directives, sub-registrars, along with revenue officials, have to inspect these lands before registering them
• To grant permission for such conversions, the officials have to send the proposed sites to the joint collector after the initial approval of tahsildars and RDOs concerned
• It is alleged that
• sub-registrars without coordination with revenue department are granting permissions
• If the land owner is found guilty, then he has to pay a penalty of 50 per cent of the actual rate of the land apart from the conversion fee