The Telangana High Court on March 6 put a stay on the state government’s notification to acquire 450 acres of land in Lagacharla and Hakimpet villages, Vikarabad district, for a multi-purpose industrial park through the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC).
Hearing two different petitions – one by a lone farmer from Hakimpet, and another by 15 farmers from Lagacharla – Justice J Sreenivas Rao directed authorities to stall the acquisition process and file their responses, according to The Hindu.
The government had proposed to acquire 351 acres of land in Hakimpet, and 110 acres in Lagacharla.
Initially, the Congress government intended to set up a cluster of pharmaceutical companies, but dropped the plan following continued resistance by local residents, who feared adverse environmental impact, inadequate compensation and loss of livelihoods.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy then announced that the government would set up an industrial park instead of a pharma cluster. Subsequently, the government withdrew a previous notification issued for acquiring 1,358 acres of land for the pharma cluster from 580 farmers in Dudyal mandal of Kodangal Assembly constituency represented by the CM.
The government then issued a fresh notification in November 2024, to acquire 1,177 acres in Lagacharla, Hakimpet, and other villages.
The land acquisition process was initiated under Section 10A of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Telangana Amendment) Act, 2016, which exempts certain projects, including industrial corridors, from social impact assessment and related public hearings.
The petitioners have challenged the application of these exemptions, Deccan Chronicle reported.
The court stayed the land acquisition process in the two villages, Lagacharla and Hakimpet, and directed the revenue and land acquisition authorities to file counters by April 7.
