120-Year-Old Land Dispute Resolved in Guntur District, 812 Families Benefited

A 120-year-old land dispute in Prathipadu assembly constituency has been resolved, with permanent land title deeds distributed to 812 families involving 41.46 acres of land in Vatticherukuru, Pullatagunta, and Etukuru villages, union minister of state for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Pemmasani Chandrasekhar underlined on Tuesday. The beneficiaries include 515 families from Vatticherukuru, 206 from Pullatagunta and 91 from Etukuru.

Addressing the title deed distribution programme at Vatticherukuru, the union minister recalled that families had been living on the land for generations and paying taxes. But they had been denied ownership rights.

At Vatticherukuru, 25.37 acres had been recorded as a tank since 1906, with no land transactions reported thereafter. Following a re-survey and scrutiny of records, authorities issued government orders removing the land from the prohibited list under Section 22-A.

In Pullatagunta, 10.16 acres had been classified as thopu poramboke government land since 1922. Houses and basic infrastructure had existed on the land for nearly 120 years. Following a government inquiry, the land has been removed from the 22-A list.

At Etukuru, 5.93 acres had been listed under Section 22-A (C). Records showed transactions dating back to 1915, following which the district administration submitted a report freeing the land.

Dr Pemmasani said 1.60 lakh acres across Andhra Pradesh would be freed from restrictions imposed under Section 22-A. NALA charges had been reduced to four per cent, while stamp duty on inherited property had been brought down to ₹100, he said.

He announced that the long-pending Guntur Channel would be developed at a cost of ₹600 crore and an AYUSH hospital costing ₹100 crore would be coming up in the Prathipadu constituency.

Revenue minister Anagani Satya Prasad described the initiative as a landmark programme and said land issues in around 300 villages have been resolved.

Those who participated in the programme included Guntur district collector C.M. Saikanth Varma, Rajya Sabha MP Bhashyam Ramakrishna, and Prathipadu MLA Dr. Boorla Ramanjaneyulu.