: The Burma Colony, which was allotted for the Burma refugees who settled in the city decades ago, has now become a target for land sharks backed by local politicians.
The tiny colony, spread in more than one acre of area is located alongside the Nunna Road in Payakapuram.
With the completion of most sought Inner Ring Road which meets Nunna Road near the colony, the cost of the land in the areas near by shot up attracting land grabbers.
With a majority of the plots changing hands over the years, very few refugees are still residing in their houses. Recently, land grabbers occupied some plots and raised structures.
Following resistance from locals, VMC officials pulled down the structures built by activists of the ruling party and some local journalists in the encroached lands of the colony near Kandrika, said CPI (M) city secretary Donepudi Kasinath.
Fresh attempts are being made to grab the plots in the other half of the colony opposite Chikista Hospitals.
“Only after political parties mounted pressure, the town planning wing demolished the houses built illegally in the area allotted for park.
While existing residential plots are untouched, vacant lands have become the target for grabbers,” alleged another leader of CPI (M).
A cent of land is being sold at more than Rs. 10 lakh which was not the case till recently.
