Andhra government may bring in law against land grab

Government is likely to enact a legislation seeking to provide stringent punishment for land grabbing on the lines of the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020

The Andhra Pradesh government will soon enact a legislation seeking to provide stringent punishment for land grabbing on the lines of the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday.

At a press conference held at state secretariat, the chief minister called upon the people to file complaints on land grabbing done in the last five years (PTI)

“We have decided to bring in AP Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, on the lines of a similar legislation in Gujarat, which provides stringent punishment for land grabbing,” Naidu said while releasing a white paper on “misappropriation of natural resources – land, mines and minerals and forests” during the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) regime.

At a press conference held at state secretariat, the chief minister called upon the people to file complaints on land grabbing done in the last five years. “We shall create a website on the official portal of the government, where the people can lodge complaints on land grabbing by unscrupulous elements,” he said.

The Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020 provides for punishment of land grabbers with an imprisonment for a period of not less than 10 years, which can be extended to 14 years and a fine to the extent of the market value of the grabbed land.

Naidu said according to the reports received from various district administrations, court cases and public complaints, the value of the land grabbed in the last five years had been estimated to be ₹35,576 crore. “In fact, going by the complaints still being received from the public, the actual quantum of land is much higher,” he said.

He said the illegal land transactions committed during the YSRCP government include cases worth ₹4,469 crore in Visakhapatnam; ₹101 crore in Prakasam district, ₹270 crore in Tirupati and ₹99 crore in Chittoor; misappropriation of more than ₹3,000 crore in land acquisition for house sites; allotment of land for the YSRCP offices worth ₹300 crore and assignment of 13,081 acres of lands worth ₹1300 crore to ineligible beneficiaries and granting of freehold rights to assigned lands worth ₹14,831 crore.

Similarly, Naidu said the state government had lost a revenue of ₹19,137 crore to the state exchequer due to alleged exploitation of mines and mineral resources, including sand, minor minerals and illegal mining in forest areas and non-recovery of pending dues from sand contractors.

“Besides, the previous government turned a blind eye on smuggling of red sanders, encroachment of forest lands and resorted to huge damage of environment by destruction of mangrove forests in the name of housing colonies and Rushikonda Hills for the construction of chief minister’s residence-cum-camp office,” Naidu alleged.

The YSRCP leaders are yet to react on the allegations made by the Naidu government in the white paper.