Gunadala layout issue surfaces again

Lokayukta summons higher officials of the VMC

The municipal employees’ layout issue surfaced again with the VMC officials appearing before Lokayukta recently. The officials told the Lokayukta that they would invite tenders shortly to develop the layout and hand over the plots to the beneficiaries. Not satisfied with it, sources say, the Lokayukta has issued summons to higher-ups of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) asking them to appear before it personally.

The summons issue has become a topic of discussion in the corridors of the Corporation. The employees were recounting their woes ever since the idea of providing housing sites at Gunadala was mooted. The layout has been mired in controversy ever since the proposal was conceived nearly 18 years ago.

The main contention of the employees is: the VMC has diverted the developmental charges paid by them decades ago; the plots were not registered on their names; there were allegations that ineligible names cropped up in the list. The employees were also up in arms when the Corporation officials stated that changes would be made in the layout though the plots were already allotted.

The employees unions became furious when the VMC told the court that it has not collected any additional amount from the employees for development of the Gunadala layout. The union leader Asula Ranganayakulu pointed out that the Corporation had collected Rs.6 crore additionally from the employees on the plea of developmental charges.

Later, the Corporation has asked the employees to pay infrastructure development charges. The beneficiaries contended that it would cause a burden to them as they had already paid Rs. 55,000, Rs.30,000 and Rs. 22,000, depending on the area of the plot they possessed. With persuasion, many of the employees paid the charges, and about 50 members are yet to clear the dues, sources say.

There are three categories of plots in the layout developed for the society at Gunadala. The plots admeasuring 240 sq. yards, 150 sq. yards, and 120 sq. yards were allotted to nearly 700 employees of the corporation.