Only 1.25 lakh LRS applicants paid fees; government earns ₹460 crore

HYDERABAD: The Layout Regularization Scheme (LRS) in Telangana has seen a significant disparity between applications received and fees paid. Out of approximately 25 lakh applications submitted statewide, only 1,25,732 applicants have completed the fee payment process, resulting in ₹460 crore in revenue for the government.

Officials have rejected around 4 lakh applications related to prohibited lands, water bodies like ponds and lakes, and other restricted areas. Fee intimation letters have been dispatched to 18,60,421 applicants, while the remaining applications are pending due to minor issues. Authorities are working to resolve these matters promptly to facilitate further fee collections.

The distribution of fee-paying applicants across various districts is as follows:

Ranga Reddy District: 20,037 applicants
Medchal-Malkajgiri District: 14,740 applicants
HMDA Jurisdiction Village Panchayats: 13,619 applicants

Despite Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s announcement that LRS fees would be allocated directly to the respective municipalities, official orders have yet to be issued. Consequently, the collected fees remain in the government’s account, leaving municipal authorities awaiting directives for fund allocation.

The total of 25.70 lakh LRS applications received statewide includes:

– HMDA Jurisdiction: 3,58,464 applications
GHMC Limits: 1,06,921 applications
– Municipal Corporations and Municipalities: 13.82 lakh applications
– Rural Areas: 6 lakh applications
Urban Development Authority Jurisdictions: 1.35 lakh applications

Among municipal corporations, the following have received notable numbers of applications:

– Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation: 1,00,991 applications
– Turkayamjal Municipality: 50,411 applications
– Badangpet Municipal Corporation: 47,506 applications
– Pedda Amberpet Municipality: 42,231 applications
Khammam Municipal Corporation: 39,944 applications
Nalgonda Municipality: 36,116 applications
Suryapet Municipality: 35,464 applications

The state government had announced a 25% fee concession to encourage applicants to come forward. However, this has led to server issues, with applicants experiencing difficulties opening the provided links. Authorities are addressing software problems within HMDA, GHMC, and DTCP jurisdictions to ensure a smoother application process. With only nine days remaining for the concession period, a significant number of applicants are attempting to complete their fee payments.