Farmers and small plot owners in Ambapuram village are left in the lurch though the Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM UDA) has shelved the township proposal.
The plot owners lament that the Registration Department is not registering sale transactions as the lands are notified under the Land Acquisition Act.
Neither the UDA nor the State government has made a formal statement that the township proposal has been shelved and land acquisition notification is being withdrawn.
Taking advantage of the scenario, brokers and realtors are trying to purchase the land at throwaway prices, they say.
The High Court has set aside the draft notification following writ petitions filed by the farmers and plot owners five years ago. As there is no formal announcement, the brokers are cheating the plot owners saying that the notification is still in vogue, says P. Koteswara Rao, president of Maa Bhoomi, an organisation that fought on behalf of the plot owners.
Official apathy
The plot owners are making rounds on the corridors of the UDA, Collectorate, MAUD, Hyderabad, urging officials to take necessary action. However, there has been no response from them, he asserts.
According to information, UDA special grade Deputy Collector (LA) wrote a letter to district Collector appraising him of the facts: There is no provision in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, prohibiting the registration of sale transactions of lands notified U/s 4(1) of the Act. Further, Section 176 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, read with Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, also does not contemplate stoppage of registration of sales covered under the draft notification published U/s 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
When contact, UDA Vice-Chairman G.S.R.K.R. Vijay Kumar said, “We will send a communication to the Sub- Registrar office stating that the township proposal has been withdrawn and registrations can be done.”
The plot owners have been waging a relentless battle against the UDA and the State government ever since the project was conceived in 2006. The UDA was forced to shelve the project due to various reasons, including the High Court setting aside the draft notification, and stiff opposition from the public.
