Resolved Panchagrama Land Dispute Pending Since 12 Years: CPM
CPI Politburo member B.V. Raghavulu urged the government to restore registrations, permit repairs and construction works, and resolve the dispute at the earliest
VIJAYAWADA: CPI Politburo member B.V. Raghavulu has urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to take immediate steps to resolve the long-pending Panchagrama land dispute in Visakhapatnam district, stating that nearly two lakh people have been facing hardships for almost three decades.
In a letter to the Chief Minister on Tuesday, Raghavulu recalled that the TD government, during its first Cabinet meeting in Visakhapatnam in 2014, had promised to resolve the issue within 100 days. However, even after 12 years, the dispute remains unresolved, he said.
He alleged that during 1996–97, ryotwari pattas for 9,063.22 acres out of 11,282.26 acres in the Panchagrama area were granted to the Simhachalam Devasthanam through the Pendurthi and Chinna Gadili MROs. Based on these pattas and GO No. 578 issued in 2000, residents and landholders were unfairly branded as encroachers, he claimed.
Raghavulu said the then Chief Commissioner of Land Administration had cancelled the pattas, while an Assembly House Committee recommended regularisation, as many middle-class families had constructed houses after taking loans.
He further stated that subsequent inquiries by the Visakhapatnam RDO and a committee of senior officials also found the pattas irregular, but the government failed to cancel them.
He said restrictions on registrations, property transactions, construction and repairs were causing severe hardship, including to tribal residents. He urged the government to restore registrations, permit repairs and construction works, and resolve the dispute at the earliest.
