Independent Jury Says Telangana Government Forcibly Acquired Farmers' Land

A six-member independent jury that conducted a public hearing on the proposed Pharma City/Future City projects has accused the Telangana government of forcibly acquiring farmers' lands and using police pressure despite court orders.

The jury report, released in Hyderabad on Wednesday, said more than 600 people attended the July 5 hearing at Tathiparthi village in Ranga Reddy district, while over 25 farmers, tenants and agricultural labourers gave testimonies.

The jury alleged that officials accompanied by heavy police deployment were destroying standing crops and taking possession of lands without adequate notice. It also claimed that some farmers' names were removed from online land records and replaced with "TGIIC", affecting their access to fertiliser, bank loans and other services.

The report alleged that works were being undertaken without Gram Sabha approval and claimed that land was being acquired without a Detailed Project Report. It further alleged that possession of lands, despite High Court stay orders, could amount to contempt of court.

The jury also criticised the Congress government for continuing the Pharma City land acquisition process under the rebranded Future City project, despite its alleged promise before the 2023 Assembly elections to scrap Pharma City and return lands to farmers.

The panel demanded that lands of farmers who have not consented to acquisition in Medipalli, Nanak Nagar, Tathiparthi, Kurmidda and adjoining hamlets be exempted from acquisition.

The report was prepared by senior journalist Vemana Vasantha Lakshmi, Professor Sujatha Surepally, Human Rights Forum representative S Jeevan Kumar, senior advocate T Raghunath, retired Tahsildar V Balaraj and University of Hyderabad academic Dream Vijay.

Future City is a flagship and dream project of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, with the Congress government pitching it as a new-generation greenfield city, while farmer groups and opposition parties question the manner in which land is being acquired.

Reddy has strongly urged the project, maintaining that land acquisition cannot be stopped and urging farmers to cooperate in return for compensation and employment opportunities. He has also accused opposition parties of obstructing development through legal challenges.

The project has, however, become politically contentious as several lands were earlier acquired under the previous BRS government for Hyderabad Pharma City.

The BRS has accused the Congress government of simply rebranding Pharma City as Future City and diverting land acquired for an industrial project towards commercial development. 

BRS leaders T Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao have questioned the proposed change in land use and said their party would reconsider the project if it returns to power. 

When contacted about the independent jury findings, government sources rejected them. The sources reminded that on July 22, Reddy directed officials during a meeting to complete land acquisition before inviting tenders for development works, signalling that the government intends to proceed with the project despite protests.  

The chief minister on July 15 participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Amazon Web Services data centre at Bharat Future City and described the facility as a key step in building the proposed city.