Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s biggest land battle is unfolding over property worth a jaw-dropping ₹30,000-40,000 crore. Telangana Waqf Board is locked in nearly 5,500 legal fights to reclaim its land, much of it in Hyderabad and the erstwhile Rangareddy districts.Official records show the board owns about 77,000 acres, but it physically controls only 30,000 acres. The rest is tied up in encroachments and courtroom battles. On average, 15-20 new cases are filed against the board every month, with private individuals challenging Waqf gazette notifications.Currently, the board is fighting 3,715 cases in Telangana high court, 1,549 in the Waqf Tribunal, and 230 in other civil and revenue courts. Hyderabad alone accounts for 1,626 disputes, while Rangareddy has 1,315 and Medak 299.Waqf Board member Abul Fateh Syed Bandagi Badesha Quadri said the board has lost hundreds of cases and official Waqf land notifications published in the govt gazette were exploited or taken advantage of by private parties, often to challenge or undermine the Waqf Board’s ownership claims in the past few decades, especially in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medak and Nizamabad districts.“The primary reason being undue delay in publication of the gazette notification. Secondly, there was lack of evidence, lack of proper records, and lack of coordination between the board officials and legal counsels. There is also no corresponding responsibility,” he told TOI.He explained that the Waqf land survey began in 1967, and was finished in 1982, but gazette publications were delayed until 1999-2001 because the board failed to pay the govt printing press. “By the time gazette notifications were published, the initial Act 1954 was repealed, and the new 1995 Act came into existence,” he explained.Officials admitted that land litigations were too many, while land prices around Hyderabad kept rising. Revenue records often fail to reflect Waqf claims, leaving properties vulnerable to encroachers, they said.There is also criticism that the board has not fenced or protected most of its land, while the state govt has shown little oversight. “Encroachments are rampant in various districts, but the revenue department is not supporting us,” a senior Waqf Board official complained.GFXSome of the biggest parcels under dispute include:Aloor village (Maheshwaram mandal): 1,864 acres across multiple casesMalkangiri: 280 acresGuttala Begumpet: 90 acresManikonda: 108 acresRajendra Nagar: 350 acresMedak district: 530 acresForest department tussle: 1,700 acresPahadishareef: Of 4,000 acres, nearly 2,000 were allotted to Shamshabad airport
