Pancha Gramalu Row Reignites Over Land Rights Delay
The long-pending ‘Pancha Gramalu’ land dispute resurfaced on Sunday, with the Samaikya Praja and Rythu Sankshema Sangham staging a protest over delays in its resolution and alleging bias in land allotments.
Members of the association took out a march from Vepagunta Junction to the Gopalapatnam Rythu Bazar, questioning the State government for expediting land allocation to corporates while leaving local residents in prolonged uncertainty.
Addressing the gathering, former CPI(M) corporator B. Ganga Rao termed the situation “ironic”, alleging that while 160 acres of Simhachalam land had been allotted to a corporate entity, thousands of residents who have lived in the area for decades were being denied ownership rights. He said it was unjust to term them “encroachers” when they had been paying property taxes and utility bills to GVMC and APEPDCL and had even secured bank loans against their properties.
Association secretary T. V. Krishnam Raju clarified that the agitation sought recognition of Zirayati private lands backed by valid titles and was not linked to any dispute over temple property. He alleged that successive governments had used the issue as an electoral promise without arriving at a permanent solution, despite the 1903 Gilman Survey Settlement records supporting farmers’ claims.
The association demanded that the government formally recognise these records and introduce a legislative amendment to exclude 1,785 acres from the Ryotwari pattas granted to the Simhachalam Devasthanam in the mid-1990s.
The protesters also called for the immediate lifting of restrictions on house construction and property transactions in Adavivaram, Vepagunta, Cheemalapalli, Venkatapuram, and Purushothapuram.
They warned that failure to resolve the issue ahead of the upcoming municipal corporation elections could impact results in at least 17 wards.