Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal urging him to give railway lands in Raja Rajeswaripet in Vijayawada to 800 poor families who are residing there. In exchange for the land, the government has offered to give land at a suitable place within Vijayawada. In the letter, Jagan Reddy has also pointed out that the land has not been used for almost 30 years by the Railways.
“These poor residents had been living for more than 30 years in the same area and had made several representations to the Government to regularise that encroachments. No meaningful effort had been made in the past to resolve the issue. As the lands encroached upon by the poor families belong to Railways, and keeping in view the long nature of encroachments, it is proposed to offer suitable Government Land to Railways as part of exchange in lieu of this encroached land,” read Jagan’s letter dated February 24.
The state government has offered land that is within city limits and of equal value to the Railways in exchange. The Andhra Pradesh CM also has written that the Railway Officers have told the District Collector that “Encroached land is of little use and they would be in a better position to utilise the proposed land which is located adjacent to 25 acres of Railway land in AjitSingh Nagar”.
The letter comes just days before 12 municipal corporations including Vijayawada go to polls on March 10. Campaigning has commenced in Vijayawada, the second largest city in the state, and is set to pick up momentum in the coming days. The city has seen increasing urbanisation regardless of the capital status of nearby Amaravati. The city’s population was around 10.5 lakh as per the 2011 Census, and is expected to reach 25 lakh by 2025.
A team of officials from the Revenue and Railways had reportedly visited the land where these families have been living as well as the alternate site proposed.