THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WP No. 8454 of 2002 ORDER: This writ petition has been instituted by three individuals who are residents of Chintalatana village, Sirsilla Mandal, Karimnagar District, seeking a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in laying water shed bunds and digging the canals under the “Neeru-Meeru” scheme through lands in Sy. Nos. 229, 259 and 260 of Chintalatana village, Sirsilla Mandal, Karimnagar District, without obtaining the prior permission of the petitioners and without acquiring the said lands as illegal. The three petitioners have asserted that they own the lands in the said survey number and that the State and its officials, as a matter of implementation of “Neeru-Meeru” scheme are establishing water shed and are digging the canals through these lands, thus dispossessing the petitioners without any manner of right. The 5th respondent-Divisional Forest Officer has filed a detailed counter affidavit in the matter. In reply to paragraph (6) of the affidavit, at paragraph (7) it is stated that because of heavy drought in this area for the past over 10 years, residents of the locality started facing acute drinking water problems, and hence construction of a water shed and providing the canals there from has been undertaken on an emergency basis and in fact they have also accomplished the said job. In paragaraph (8) of the counter affidavit, it has been specifically asserted that the entire land in survey No. 229, 259 and 260 situated at Chinthalathana village of Sircilla Mandal, Karimnagar district belongs to the government and there is no private patta land therein and hence the question of dispossessing the petitioners therein does not arise. In view of the averments contained in paragraphs (7) and (8) of the counter affidavit, the entire question boils down to this: Whether the petitioners are having any title and interest in the lands at all or not? To provide an answer to this question, evidence has got to be necessarily collected. The petitioners have to establish their right, title and interest over the land in question and also establish that the water shed and the canals constructed by the government and its agencies were in fact lying in the lands owned by them. These questions therefore can perhaps be better addressed only by a civil court and hence leaving the question open for the parties to agitate and establish their right, title and interest before a civil court by leading appropriate evidence, this writ petition is dismissed without costs. -------------- knk 23.03.2010