Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh government has asked Vuda to raise project cost of the much-hyped Vizag metro rail project by 13 per cent. Though the proposed land pooling is mired in controversies, Vuda has been left with no choice but to go ahead with the proposal to raise funds.
While the cost of the 45-km long project is pegged at Rs 13,500 crore, Vuda was asked to raise at least Rs 3,500 crore. This, it decided to pool private land and auction its share after the development.
The urban development body had decided to auction other government land to raise funds. It planned land pooling in two phases. Of the 359.81 acres that were to be pooled in the first phase, at least 175.13 acres is assigned land. All of the 183.34 acres for the second phase also is assigned land.
Most of the land comes under the assembly constituency Bheemunipat-nam represented by HRD minister Ganta Srinivas Rao. Land pooling will be done at Kommadi, Pendurthy and Anandapuram mandals. Vuda is deriving an economic model for developing these lands so as to benefit both Vuda and the farmers.
Around 50 per cent of the land will be used for creating infrastructure facilities in the pooling. Advance payments were already made by realtors to the marginal farmers who are in possession of the assigned lands and agreements were signed so that the developed land site allotted by Vuda would be transferred to them at a later stage.
“There is no choice for Vuda since it has to raise funds for the metro rail project. It has to go ahead with the land pooling and auction government lands,” said a government functionary.
Earlier, a similar land pooling scheme turned into a major scam. A vigilance probe established that in connivance with some senior officials from Vuda and private persons, plots worth crores were allotted to benami participants of Vuda’s land pooling project in Paradesipalem and some other layouts developed by Vuda to the fake land losers of the urban development body’s earlier projects.
