Blaming the management of Sai Priya Resorts for not allowing them to perform ‘bhoomi puja’ in the nearly 10 acres of land at sea-facing Rushikonda on Wednesday, Prema Samajam honorary president K. Ramabrahmam on Thursday said they would explore all legal options to go ahead with their project at the ‘free-holding land’. Stating that they had obtained all the documents to prove their ownership, he told The Hindu that with the consent of senior officials of the Endowments Department, they had decided to go ahead with the project to build a junior college, orphanage, old-age home, and ‘goshala’ with an initial investment of Rs.3 crore to Rs.4 crore. The project will involve a total outlay of over Rs.12 crore.
He said following a joint survey, the Assistant Commissioner, Endowments, and the Secretary, Prema Samajam, had put up a notice board on March 14 declaring that the site belonged to the Endowments and trespassers would be strictly prohibited.
Rubbishing the claim of the resort’s management, Mr. Ramabrahmam, who is also president of Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said just because a part of the 33.7 acres of the 50 acres owned by them at Rushikonda, which was given on lease to Sai Priya Resorts in 2003-04, had seawater intrusion, they could not lay claim on the adjoining land admeasuring nearly 10 acres.
He said when the new body took over in 2011, there were no documents on the lease and it took them six months to verify six almirahs.
“Finally, we could get information on five registered MoUs regarding donation of the said land at Rushikonda by C.P. Rao, a philanthropist, through a letter written by the MRO,” he stated.
As per a letter written by the MRO of Visakhapatnam (Rural) based on settlement documents and obtained by the Prema Samajam during document verification, the new body of the samajam, a non-profitable charitable body formed in 1930 and registered under Societies Act, 1941, found the following particulars on ownership viz. 22.42 acres in Survey No. 16, 11.62 acres in Survey No. 23, and 13.27 acres in Survey No. 24.
Mr. Ramabrahmam said they had adopted a resolution in the general body meeting held in 2014-15 to cancel the lease deed executed with Sai Priya Resorts.
