VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday said encroachments on Grama Kantam lands should be cleared and such lands cannot be considered as private lands.The village panchayat concerned is the owner of such lands. No encroacher can claim the ownership right on such lands even if they are under his or her occupation for the past three to four decades, the court asserted, while dealing with a petition pertaining to encroachment of village lands.
The local bodies are collecting property tax from some of the houses constructed on encroached lands, besides giving power connection. In such cases. payment of property tax does not mean that the person holds the ownership right of the land, the court observed.
It expressed dismay over construction of houses on the lands meant for grazing cattle in Paladugu village of Medikonduru mandal in Guntur district and directed officials to remove all the encroachments at the earliest.The officials should issue notices to the encroachers before evicting them from the lands, the court said.