CPI(M) urges end to Panchagramalu land dispute in Visakhapatnam

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu has urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and resolve the decades-old Panchagramalu land dispute in Visakhapatnam district, saying nearly two lakh people continue to be affected due to the unresolved issue.

In a letter to the Chief Minister on Tuesday, Raghavulu pointed out that the government had, during its first Cabinet meeting in Visakhapatnam in 2014, assured that the issue would be settled within 100 days. “Even after 12 years, there has been no resolution,” he noted.

He alleged that in 1996–97, ryotwari pattas were issued for 9,063.22 acres out of a total 11,282.26 acres in the Panchagramalu area in favour of the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple through the Pendurthi and Chinnagadili MRO offices, without adequate supporting documentation. These pattas, along with a subsequent 2000 Government Order, led to long-time residents being treated as encroachers, he said.

Raghavulu added that although the pattas were later cancelled by the then Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, they continued to be treated as valid by successive governments. He also referred to findings by Assembly committees, official panels, and revenue authorities, which flagged irregularities and recommended fresh surveys and regularisation of occupied lands.

According to him, restrictions on land registrations, transactions, house construction, and repairs have caused serious hardship to residents, including tribal communities in the hill areas.

Citing 1903 survey records, he claimed that only 39.5 acres were originally recorded as temple land, while the rest was classified as cultivable, barren, poramboke, and forest land.

He has urged the Chief Minister to step in, restore registration facilities, and permit construction and repair works until a final settlement is reached.