A TRS MLA allegedly encroached five acres of a tank, on the pretext of ‘developing’ the water body in Telangana’s Jangaon district.

The allegation was levelled against Jangaon MLA M Yadagiri Reddy, by District Collector A Devasena on Tuesday.

Reddy had allegedly levelled 5.5 acres of the Dharmoni Kunta, which is spread over 9 acres, reported The Hindu.

The District Collector who was inspecting the tank to overview the arrangements for Bathukamma had noticed this, and accused the MLA of registering 2,000 square yards of the water body’s land in his name.

After encroaching the water body, the MLA let the drain water into the Nellutla tank, meant for irrigational and drinking purposes, the District Collector alleged.

She cancelled the registration of the land.

Besides cancelling the registration, the Collector also said that she needs to verify Rs 30 lakh expenditure, claimed to be  spent on developing the lake, before sanctioning another Rs 2.3 crore in funds, Deccan Chronicle reported.

Speaking to DC, she said, “I don’t know what my predecessors have done on this issue, but now I am the Collector and I need to follow Supreme Court directions on reviving water bodies and not allow any other activity in this water body.”

Refuting the allegations, the accused MLA said that the allegations of the Collector are totally false. “Not a single square yard of the water body (tank) land is registered in my name. Let anyone prove I am a land grabber. I am prepared to receive any punishment…(The Collector) cannot make allegations based on hearsay,” he told DC.

The MLA claimed that the water body was levelled for developing the tank, and to make it a major attraction like Tank Bund.

This is hardly the first time that the MLA is getting into trouble, as “a report about him using foul, unparliamentary language, banging furniture and threatening officers” had been sent to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in July this year.