VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) pooled over 6,000 acres of land for the development of one-cent layouts across various parts of Visakhapatnam district.
In these 83 layouts, spanning 4,828 acres, nearly 1.42 lakh homeless people have been allocated one cent each. The land was pooled from farmers in various mandals of the district. Now, as compensation for the land acquired, the VMRDA has set on creating reconstituted (RC) layouts for about 2,000 farmers.
These 48 RC layouts are being developed with an investment of approximately Rs 660 crore. Depending on the type of ownership – assignees, encroachers in unobjectionable government lands, and encroachers in objectionable government lands – farmers will receive 250 to 900 square yards of developed land per every acre that they parted with.
Visakhapatnam district collector Dr A Mallikarjuna said that The VMRDA has undertaken quarry rubbish road development, CC drain construction, and other infrastructure works in these RC layouts through an investment of Rs 200 crore. “These initial infrastructural works have already progressed to nearly 60% completion. Similarly, BT roads, plantations, parks, and electrification projects are in various stages of progress across different layouts, financed by Rs 305 crore. In the next phase, water supply infrastructure will be established in these layouts with an allocation of Rs 155 crore,” said Dr Mallikarjuna.The Visakhapatnam district administration previously petitioned the state government to provide stamp duty and registration fee relief to farmers who gave their land during the land pooling process. Consequently, the state government has agreed to execute conveyance deeds in their favour free of charge. These deeds grant the farmers the rights to construct homes, transfer ownership rights to their heirs, mortgage the land, or utilize it for any other legal purpose.
The VMRDA developed the one-cent layouts in various mandals of the district, including Anankapalli, Anandapuram, Gajuwaka, Peda Gantyada, Padmanabham, Parawada, Pendurthi, and Sabbavaram.
The revenue department took care of pooling process from the farmers. The VMRDA has been handed over the responsibility of developing layouts for the homeless as well as for the farmers, who parted with their lands for the one-cent layouts. Court cases pertaining to the land pooling delayed the one-cent layout development in the district in the first year.
