Property registrations in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts have dipped significantly with the fizzling out of the realty bubble. The drastic fall in revenue collections is attributed to the Samaikyandhra movement, agitation by Registration Department employees and the general elections.
Revenue collection remained at Rs. 75.54 crore as against the target of Rs. 151.82 crore in Vizianagaram district in 2013-14, while in Srikakulam district, the collection was Rs. 46.88 crore though the target was Rs. 93.04 crore.
Despite hurdles, the Revenue Department has raised its targets for 2014-15. Deputy Inspector-General of Registration B. Satyanarayana said the target was Rs. 151.82 crore for Vizianagaram, and that it would be Rs. 102.48 crore for Srikakulam district. “We hope registrations may pick up very soon though it was not encouraging in April and May owing to elections,” he said.
Revenue collections stood at Rs. 16.28 crore as against Rs. 22.01 crore in April and May, 2014 in Vizianagaram district. It was just Rs. 7.63 crore against the Rs. 14.85-crore target in Srikakulam district in the last two months. In fact, land prices have gone up in both districts, with speculation that development activities will pick up in Visakhapatnam, too.
There are hundreds of layouts on Visakhapatnam-Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam-Vizianagaram routes. Realtors had created a hype that certain government departments and universities would come up on those stretches. However, the euphoria was short-lived, with the government indicating that the Guntur-Vijayawada stretch would be developed as the capital, as the area offered connectivity to all districts.
