VIJAYAWADA: Farmers in villages where land has been acquired by the government under land pooling scheme and where land acquisition notices have been issued now have another reason to worry. The government is getting ready to reclaim the grama kantam (village habitation) lands in villages where farmers had constructed houses.
‘Grama Kantam’ is an open space in a village, which the government owns for public use. Over a period of time, farmers had occupied the land and built houses. There are about 500 such houses in every village.
Now that the government has almost completed its work of procuring land from farmers, it has set its eyes on this land, which means that those who have been living in these houses would soon find themselves without shelter.
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, realising that farmers would turn against the government in this issue too, has asked ministers Pattipati Pulla Rao and P Narayana to visit Neerukonda and Kuragallu villages and allay the fears among farmers. The ministers, interacting with the farmers, promised that the government would do justice.
They said that the government would identify ‘Grama Kantam’ in villages, as it existed as on December 8 (which means that buildings constructed afterwards would be treated as illegal). The guidelines issued by the state government would be followed in identifying ‘Gram Kantam’. At present, all the villages are being examined to find out the extent of ‘Grama Kantam’ lands. “We are inviting objections, if any, from the villagers and they would be available with CRDA director Chenna Kesava Reddy,” the ministers said.