Despite reinforcing the fleet with new vehicles, the Survey Teams of the Telangana State Wakf Board (TSWB) appears to remain to fail in extending impromptu response to the calls of encroachments especially from districts where the Wakf lands are wallowing in a negligible state or are languishing in several legal disputes.
Though the Chairman of the board has claimed that the augmented fleet will surely help the task force teams to attend to the complaints of encroachments swiftly, no such change has appeared on the ground as several reports of encroachments remain to pour in from several areas especially from Bhainsa, Nirmal and Mudhol of erstwhile Adilabad district where the wakf lands where exponentially grabbed in the absence of proper supervision and regular inspections.
Just a case in point,
there are several hundred acres of wakf land of Masjid Mashaiq and Dargah Hazrat Syed Abdul Wahid Garib Nawaz R.A in Bhainsa village of Adilabad district remain under the clutches of encroachments for several years despite having notified under wakf gazette.
“Though it is the duty of the Survey teams to protect the wakf land from the encroachments as and when the complaints received, it has been witnessed that the authorities at several occasion have failed to respond promptly despite the matter brought into their notice time and again,” bemoaned Syed Hamid Reza Mutawalli and Sajjada Nasheen of the holy shrine.
Explaining that there is a dispute over 314.72 acres of wakf land assigned with Masjid Mashaiq and Dargah Hazrat Syed Abdul Wahid Garib Nawaz R.A in Bhainsa village, he said, the matter is pending at different offices and needs day to day approach to clear the deck.
“With utmost difficulty, we managed to get an injunction order over 8 acres of the land out of total 314.72 acres with the concerted efforts of the senior officials of the board. Earlier, the survey team failed to attend the survey which was fixed by the assistant director Department of Survey Settlement and Land Records after my consistent persuasion that to paying the required fees and charges for the same.
Though a lot more efforts are needed to get back the remaining land parcels from the clutches of encroachers, it is not at all possible with the impassive attitude of the survey team,” he rued.
However, the Mutawalli affirmed the cooperation being extended by the former CEO Wakf Board Mohd. Qasim has issued directions and letters to revenue and police authorities as and when the time arose that secured the piece of wakf land at Bhainsa.
“Besides strengthening the fleet, the wakf board should also focus on accelerating the spirit and zest of survey teams to ensure that the calls regarding encroachments of whistle-blowers would not go unattended and the land must be protected and confiscated from the clutches of grabbers,” said Syed Shoukat Ali, a social activist.
