The long-pending issue of ‘pancha gramalu’, lack of drains in Landa garuvu and the proposal to establish a mortuary at the Gopalapatnam hospital are likely to have a considerable impact on Zone VIII (old Zone VI), in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections.
The two-decade-old problem of ‘pancha gramalu’ (Simhachalam land issue) has been testing the patience of people of the five villages — Purushottapuram, Vepagunta, Adavivaram, Gopalapatnam and Cheemalapalli — which are now a part of the GVMC.
The roofs of some of the houses are leaking but they cannot reconstruct the slabs, take up major repairs or even sell their property to raise funds to meet urgent family needs, as the matter is said to be in court.
Ryotwari pattas
Between 1976 and 1996 over 10,000 people are said to have constructed houses and shops on these lands. The travails of the owners began during 1996 with the issue of ryotwari pattas on these lands to the Simhachalam Devasthanam by the then Chandrababu Naidu government, says A. Aja Sarma, general secretary of the Forum for Development of North Andhra (FDNA).
The subsequent efforts by Mr. Naidu to make amends, in a bid to resolve the issue, failed.
The Congress government under Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and the present YSR Congress Party government also failed to resolve the issue, he said.
“The ‘pancha gramalu’ issue will not have much impact in GVMC elections. All parties had included the issue in their manifestos before every general election but no one could provide a solution so far,” says Visakhapatnam West MLA and TDP leader P.G.V.R. Naidu.
Viral fevers
Though there are CC roads in Landa garuvu, there are no drains or piped drinking water supply to the area. Water is supplied through tankers once in two days, according to the residents.
The stagnation of waste water in the front yards of homes, due to absence of drains, is resulting in the breeding and proliferation of mosquitoes.
The borewell dug up by the authorities had become defunct and has not been repaired.
Viral fevers and skin diseases are common.
Mortuary proposal
Residents of the area are up in arms against the proposal to set up a mortuary on the premises of the Gopalapatnam hospital and are even planning to move the court. The hospital is located in the midst of VUDA Colony and several other residential areas, which have been in existence for a long time.
“The mortuary was sanctioned as part of the plan of Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhan Parishad to develop area hospitals in the State. The building to be constructed for the mortuary could be used for any purpose, depending on the needs and as per the decision of of the hospital committee,” says Mr. P.G.V.R. Naidu, who is also the chairman of the hospital committee.
