VIJAYAWADA: Officials of the Panchayat Raj department are gearing up to crack the whip on the unauthorised layouts mushrooming in gram panchayats. After Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy issued instructions to identify the unauthorised layouts, the officials are taking up the exercise so as to take action against the responsible persons. As part of the inspections carried out by the Vigilance teams, the officials have so far identified 10,169 unauthorised layouts in gram panchayats. Apart from issuing notices to the owners of unauthorised layouts, the officials are making sure no construction activities are happening in the illegal layouts.
As 6,815 out of the total 13,371 panchayats are located in the purview of the Urban Development Authorities (UDAs), the officials of Panchayat Raj department learnt that the UDAs are issuing approvals to layouts without the knowledge of panchayats. Against this backdrop, the panchayat officials are unaware about the approved and unauthorised layouts in their respective jurisdictions.
Officials of Panchayat Raj department say that the role of sarpanch and their department is limited with regard to the layouts. In fact, the revenue department is authorised to give approval for conversion of agricultural lands for residential purposes and it is the duty of UDAs or Director Town and Country Planning (DTCP) to give the approval for the layouts, the officials said, adding that they will have to wait for a policy decision from the government to deal with the unauthorised layouts in panchayats. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Commissioner M Girija Shankar said they will soon submit a detailed report to the government.