NALGONDA: After 12 years of struggle, it appears that a farmer and his two brothers will finally get fair compensation for the 1,300 sq yd of their land that was acquired by the authorities to construct a flood canal in Panagal Road in Nalgonda town in 2012.
On Friday, the court for land acquisition cases (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) at Nampally ordered the Nalgonda RDO to pay fair compensation to the victims for the land acquired even if it meant auctioning the RDO office itself.
In 2012, the authorities had acquired the land from Singam Jaganmohan and his two brothers and paid them Rs 75 lakh as compensation. This was reportedly lower than the prevailing land registration value.
After doing rounds of the RDO office, the land owners moved court in desperation. They demanded compensation as per the registration value of the land. In court, the Nalgonda RDO agreed that the brothers deserved fair compensation. However, that was not the end of their troubles — the brothers met the authorities concerned several times seeking payment of compensation but the RDO remained unresponsive. This forced them to approach the court again. The court issued notices to the RDO in November 2023, but inexplicably, the authorities remained unmoved.
On July 25, 2024, the court ordered the RDO to auction 1,000 sq yards of revenue land by August 23 and compensate the victims. However, the auction was stopped at the last minute. The officials deposited a cheque of Rs 50 lakh in the court and requested time to pay the remaining amount. However, the judge was firm. He warned the RDO that if the compensation amount is not paid by September 24, the RDO office can be put up for auction on the same day.