Hyderabad: Farmers in five villages around the Yadagirigutta temple are deeply worried over the acquisition of their land by the Telangana government, which plans to develop the Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple on the lines of Tirumala. The government needs 2,000 acres. Nalgonda district administration officials are telling the farmers that their land would be acquired if they don’t sell it to the government, without officially disclosing the rates.

On the other hand, private realtors planning to develop layouts are offering premium rates to farmers for their land. Officials are under pressure to complete the process of collecting land quickly.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has made over half-a-dozen visits to the Yadagirigutta temple since October last and monitoring the developments. Nalgonda collector P. Satyanarayana Reddy has directed revenue officials to persuade the farmers to hand over the land in 10 days.

“We will not go in for land acquisition straightaway. If the farmers offer the land on their own, we will purchase it. If not, we have no option but issue to a notification under the Land Acquisition Act,” Mr Reddy said.

There is no clarity on this, as the previous Land Acquisition Act has been replaced by an ordinance at the Centre. The collector has visited the five villages, Yadagiripally, Gundlapally, Dhatarupally, Mallapur in Yadagirigutta mandal and Raigiri in Bhongir mandal and interacted with farmers. Mr Reddy said a majority of the farmers in Dhatarupally and Gundlapally had agreed to offer land.

Revenue divisional officer Madhusudhan said farmers offering their land would get thrice the value notified by the sub-registrar office. Going by this, farmers in Dhatarupally would get Rs 7 lakh per acre and in Gundlapally, Rs 10 lakh.

“If the farmers don’t come forward, the government will acquire land under the Land Acquisition Act. It would take four months to receive compensation under the Act whereas they would be paid instantly if they offer land on their own,” he said. But realtors are offering farmers Rs 1 crore an acre if their land is near the temple, and Rs 50 lakh if it is located at a distance.

“The rates shot up after the government decided to develop the temple along the lines of Tirumala. The government is offering less than Rs 10 lakh per acre whereas private realtors are ready to pay Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore depending on the location,” said Sattaiah, a small-time farmer of Gundlapally. Meanwhile, the collector warned private realtors against developing layouts in these five villages without seeking approval from the government.

“We urge people not to buy plots in these unauthorised layouts and land in trouble. We will take up an extensive publicity campaign on illegal layouts to create awareness among the public,” he said.