The government’s move to widen arterial roads in Nellore regardless of the resistance anticipated from some sections is being closely watched by the real estate sector.
They are hopeful of a realty boom in the city surroundings, if road widening is taken up, paving the way for making Nellore a smart city. As the Nellore Municipal Corporation went ahead with the markings on buildings on the Grand Trunk Road, many property owners and traders had started making efforts to stall the road widening process at this juncture.
With the slack implementation of the 2012 master plan, property developers went ahead with their constructions, thinking that the unauthorised structures would be regularised by payment of the required fee, shop owners argue.
Now that the government seemed serious for a makeover of Nellore, the officials had sent sufficient signals that this time illegal structures and traffic obstructions would be demolished. The manner in which the front compound wall of Hotel Leo on trunk road was pulled down took the property owners by surprise. The wall was stated to be illegally built to occupy space over a drain. However, the officials said it had to be demolished since drains and drinking water lines were a priority.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and former MLA Anam Vivekananda Reddy came to the defence of the property owners, saying that property worth Rs. 10,000 crore would be destroyed, if demolitions were to be carried out, resulting in loss of livelihood of thousands of workers who worked in the shops and commercial complexes.
On the other hand, the municipal officials were trying to convince the property owners on the need for road widening . While trying for consensus building among affected parties, the officials were looking for sizeable compensation packages to get support.
