Notices to TTD Land Encroachers: Aggrieved threaten to boycott by-poll

Tirupati: A section of people in the temple town on Sunday threatened to boycott the by-poll as they were aggrieved by the TTD sending legal notices to them to vacate lands under their occupancy.

The TTD authorities sent legal notices to people in four localities to vacate the lands under the occupation, claiming that they were the Endowment properties.

The TTD legal authorities in the notice stated that the residents illegally occupied the lands belonging to the TTD and were liable to pay damages for use and occupation of the schedule property at Rs 5,000 per month from January 2012 onwards till the date of surrender of possession of vacant site.

In the notice the TTD warned the residents that it had no option, except to initiate necessary legal proceedings against them, for recovery of the possession of the property, if they got out of the lands in10 days.

Sources said notices were issued so far to about 150 residents on the lands bearing survey numbers including T.S No. 3186, T.S. No.3192/1, T.S. No. 3194, and T.S No. 4042 and T.S No. 4043/1, total extent of 9.65 acres, (in Kotakommala street, Doddapuram street and KK layout) seeking them to surrender possession of the property to TTD. According reliable sources, the process of issuing notices to another 1200-1300 residents is going on.

The CPI and CPM were quick to react and condemned the TTD move to evict the residents. They urged the government to intervene and restrain the TTD.

While Congress party senior leader Chinta Mohan in his election campaign criticised the TTD for its move to displace residents from the commercially high value localities in the town. Expressing solidarity with them, he said that his party would mobilise people and seek party national president Sonia to lead them to press the TTD to give up its move.

A delegation of the affected residents took the issue to the notice of Nara Lokesh who assured them to take up the matter with the government.

Meanwhile, a group of residents/building owners from these localities, led by Jai Samaikyandhra Party state spokesperson P Naveen Kumar Reddy at a press conference here on Sunday appealed to the TTD not to deprive them of their properties on the ground that they have been enjoying them for several decades. Expressing anguish, they said that they prefer death instead of parting away from their pride possession of their ancestral property.

They sought chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and bail them out from the danger of forgoing their properties. In the same breath, they warned that they would boycott the polling if some assurance in their favour did not come from the government within 48 hours. It was like adding momentum to the resistance against the TTD getting back the lands.

Naveen Kumar, questioning the issuing of the notice before the polling, suspected that it was a concealed move by TDP to get votes posing as a savior of the affected people.

It may be noted that the TTD in the notice stated that the lands are Devadayam and are covered by Inam title deed and were granted as a Religious Inam for the Devasthanam of Kurathalwar which is a sub-temple of Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple under the control of it here. The TDP sources said that the issue was brought to the notice of party leader Nara Lokesh who assured them to take up the matter with the government.