Realtors eyeing farmers’ land in Vijayawada

Capital making to turn costly

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's ambitious capital by river might prove too costly as there is a possibility of realtors luring farmers to part with their lands if land pooling would be the only option for the government to build the city.

According to sources, already top developers have put up office there to venture new projects and investment opportunities. It is also alleged that some top Telugu Desam leaders, who are close to Naidu, have purchased huge chunks of land at the epicenter of the new upcoming capital.

It is learnt that the government is planning to acquire 50,000 acres, other than government land, to build the capital with all infrastructural facilities.

The cash-strapped government is planning to acquire land from farmers drawing models from Raipur, Chandigarh and other cities. Even the Chief Minister himself is visiting Chhattisgarh on Monday to take ideas from Raman Singh, whose government had offered 40 per cent of the developed land to the farmers and there was no resentment among them.

But in case of Vijayawada, the real estate agents want to make an agreement with the farmers in order to take advantage of the government offer. If land pooling is dropped and owners are offered land in lieu of land, these realtors could lay hands on prime land using their clout with the government.

A similar realtor-farmer deal in Visakhapatnam had cost the government heavily. It led to a scam which is under investigation. Sources said the government was ready to give about 24 per cent of the acquired land to the actual owner.

If 40 per cent land was used for development, the State and farmer had to share the remaining 60 per cent at ratio of 36 to 24. It means the government has to acquire three times the land to build the capital.