Srikakulam land grab: Demolition of illegal structures postponed to October 1

SRIKAKULAM: The demolition drive against the mushrooming illegal structure on the encroached government land in LN Peta mandal headquarters, which was slated for Tuesday, has been postponed to October 1. The officials cited the local tehsildar falling sick and the deputation of police personnel to Vijayawada on Dasara duty as the reasons. The land sharks have encroached around 15 acres of government land near the Dola Cheruvu and Barikivani Cheruvu and the issue came to light after a group of ayacut farmers lodged a complaint during the ‘Mee Kosam’ programme recently.   In their complaints,  the farmers alleged that as many as 80 houses had been constructed on the government land and another foundation stone had been laid for another 300 houses.

Having occupied the land, many private parties have started real estate ventures and many illegal occupants have sold and resold the encroached lands to many private parties. The land grabbers have forged documents with the help of some fraudulent officials before selling out the stretches at higher prices, the farmers alleged.   In response, a demolition drive against the illegal constructions was planned on Tuesday. But, the officials said that it had been postponed to October 1 and 2. 

“Local tehsildar K Appa Rao has been admitted to a hospital in Visakhapatnam with complaints of stomach ache and the sub-inspector of the local police station is now in Vijayawada on Vijayadasami duty. After a talk with the police officials, the demolition drive has been postponed,” RDO B Dayanidhi told Express. Meanwhile, the works of illegal constructions continue unabated, despite criminal cases being registered against the culprits.  “To evade police and the government officials, the land grabbers are now carrying out the works between 5 am and 9 m and 6 pm and 8 pm,” said a resident of LN Peta on condition of anonymity. 

Further, LN Peta, despite being the mandal headquarters,  does not have a police station and people approach the nearby police station in the Sarubujjili mandal limits to file complaints. Taking advantage of the situation, the land grabbers are carrying out the illegal constructions, he said.  

Shop replaces lone bus stop 
LN Peta probably is the only the mandal headquarters in the state, which does not have a permanent bus stop. A bus shelter was built with the MP grants during 2002 but it was demolished in 2007 for some reasons. Soon, a shop came up in place of the bus stop. R&B AAE Gopala Rao told Express that he had not seen any bus shelter in LN Peta since 2012 when he assumed the office here. He also admitted that a shop was running in the place where the bus shop was built earlier.