VIJAYAWADA: Even as farmers of Amaravati have been on a warpath against the government’s decision to relocate the executive offices to Visakhapatnam, the State government on Tuesday issued an order to use 1,251.51 acres of land, procured under the land pooling system by the earlier government in Amaravati, for its flagship programme of allotting houses to the poor.
The Amaravati Joint Action Committee, demanding that the order be scrapped, opposed the government’s decision and said it would take legal recourse as the farmers gave their land for development of the capital and not for the government to use it for its welfare initiatives.
As per the order (MS 107) issued by Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Secretary J Syamala Rao, about 54,307 beneficiaries from the limits of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, Tadepalli and Mangalagiri municipalities and selected gram panchayats of Tadepalli, Duggirala, Mangalagiri, Pedakakani mandals of Guntur district will be given houses in villages of Nowluru, Krishnayapalem, Nidamarru, Inavolu, Kuragallu and Mandadam under ‘Pedalakandariki Illu’. The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) has been directed to provide land for the same.
According to the order, the APCRDA commissioner had written on January 4 stating that the collectors of Krishna and Guntur district requested for allotment of the said land to implement the flagship housing initiative.
The commissioner further noted that as per Section 53(d) of the APCRDA Act, 2014, at least five per cent of the total area pooled under the LPS may be allotted for providing affordable housing to the poor.
In this regard, the commissioner noted that 87.02 acres of land pooled under LPS has already been utilised to house the poor.
Following this, the government has decided to use the land under APCRDA’s ambit for its Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu programme, the order stated.
The APCRDA will undertake development of the layouts, for which funds will be given by the revenue department. An implementation committee has also been formed with APCRDA commissioner and collectors of Krishna and Guntur districts to oversee the implementation of the programme.
Responding to the GO, Amaravati JAC members took out a rally in Vijayawada in the evening and demanded that the GO be revoked.
“While we have been fighting against the decentralisation of governance for the last 70 days, the government, which has not heeded our angst, decided to use the land we gave for capital development for its housing initiative. We demand that it be scrapped immediately. Else, we will intensify our protests and even take legal recourse,” the members said.
Later in the day, Chief Minister took stock of the status of the housing project in the Spandana initiative. He told officials to ensure landholders don’t feel dejected when procuring land.