Forest land to cost Andhra Pradesh dear
State to pay hefty sum to Union ministry for de-notification
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-02 03:28 GMT
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government, which has pinned its hopes on the Central government to fund its capital city development, has to give crores of rupees to the Union environment and forest ministry for conversion of forest land.
Though the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act-2014 allows the residuary state to de-notify forest land for the purpose of building its capital city, it is mandatory for the user agency, in this case the AP government, to pay net present value, compensatory afforestation and other charges to the Union ministry.
It will also have to give an equivalent area of land at some other location in the state to be earmarked and developed as forest area. As per the Supreme Court Empowered Committee guidelines and various provisions of the Forest Act, equivalent land in lieu of forest land has to be given.
Highly-placed sources said the state would have to pay about Rs 10.50 lakh per acre towards NPV, afforestation and other charges. The state has already set the process in motion to de-notify forest land in 20-km radius outside Vijayawada.
“The government wants to expand Vijayawada city up to Tullur mandal and Mangalagiri, where the first phase of the capital city is coming up. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu plans to merge Vijayawada and Guntur with the new capital making it a bigger capital city than Greater Hyderabad,” sources said.
Fertile land to be concretised:
The lush green fields of Tulluru mandal will make way for a concrete jungle as the state government has selected this fertile land to set up the new capital.
The 33,240 acres of fertile land in the mandal paddy is cultivated on 6,500 acres, banana on 2,900 acres, chilli on 1,000 acres, Bengal gram on 1,500 acres, black gram on 1,200 acres, eucalyptus on 5,000 acres, lime on 600 acres, besides several other vegetables will soon have multi-storeyed buildings built on them.
The fertility of the land is the main reason behind the landowners’ reluctance to give it to the state government as part of the land pooling proposal.
Farmers of various villages of the mandal are these days attending meeting after meeting, where the main topic of discussion is whether to give their lands for the capital.
“We are not willing to give away our fertile lands but the government is threatening to acquire it forcibly. Rayapudi guava could be on the brink of extinction,” said T. Raghuramaiah from Rayapudi village.
Farmers from the village added that they were Telugu Desam supporters, but, they were against fertile lands being converted into concrete jungles.
Turmeric, lemon, bananas, sugarcane, rice and chillies can be cultivated round the year in Abbarajupalem. D. Rangaiah and other farmers of the village said that lemons grown here are famous for their quality and are much in demand in Krishna and Guntur districts.
They lamented that soon this fruit too will be a thing of the past. "This variety of lemon can only be cultivated on this land due to the proximity of the river and the sweet groundwater," they said.
Nelapadu, Sakhamuru, Mandadam, Dondapadu, Tulluru and adjacent areas produce quality rice and are famous as "rice bowls", said S. Ramu, D Subba Rao and other farmers.They said that they are Telugu Desam supporters but are against fertile lands turning into concrete jungles.
The farmers recalled that Amaravati was once the capital and these areas were known as Dhanayakatakam (rice granary). "They still are producing vast quantity of rice but most probably, they will soon become history, so the state government should think twice before establishing the capital here," they said.
Uniform land compensation irks farmers:
Nearly six riparian villages along Krishna river are opposing the government’s land pooling proposal. The six villages are comparing the value of their land to the remaining 11 villages, which are also in the proposed capital area location. The six villages which are nearest to Krishna river, have extremely fertile soil.
The land value there has already shot up to Rs 1.50 crore. But the land prices in other villages is around Rs 15 lakh. Farmers are also opposed to the government’s uniform compensation for all 17 villages.
Land prices have already shot up from Rs.75 lakhs to Rs.1.50 crore in the villages of Mandadam, Uddandarayapalem, Malkapuram, Lingayapalem, Rayapudi and Borupalem. On the other hand, the land values are at just Rs.15 lakhs in the remaining villages says Uddandarayapalem sarpanch B. Koteswara Rao.
He said that the riparian villages are questioning him about the giving up of such fertile land with great value for capital construction. He added that villagers are also vexed with the government’s same compensation formula for all villages.
The land value has already shot up to Rs 1.50 crore. But the land prices in other villages is around Rs 15 lakh. Farmers are also opposed to the government’s uniform compensation for all 17 villages.
The farmers of remaining villages, however, are not much opposed to the government’s land pooling proposal, informed Tulluru sarpanch I. Narasimha Rao. He added that the government might, however, face opposition in procuring six thousand acres of land (why?).
Meanwhile, farmers are also debating how some villages, in close proximity to the proposed capital location, like those of Venkatapalem, Vadlamaanu, Parimi and Anatharam have not been asked to hand over lands. YSRCP Mangalagiri MLA A. Ramakrishna Reddy expressed doubt on how some villages, in which most of the land belong to TD and BJP MPs, were not included for capital formation.