Visakhapatnam: Even after decades, they wait for regularisation of pattas

Visakhapatnam: Close to Naval Armament Depot (NAD), Durgapuram is a place where 1,500 people reside. Surrounded by the navy and railways, residents here continue to struggle for getting house pattas for over eight decades.

There are about 350 houses in the colony that form a part of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (Visakhapatnam Port Authority now) land. Though the residents represented their issue to the authorities concerned for several times now, their land pattas are yet to be regularised.

On the positive aspect, the colony is well-maintained in terms of sanitation, roads and other infrastructure.

Apart from regularising their property, another issue that bothers the residents is the location of the burial ground in the area. "Each time people have to cremate a body, they need to cross railway tracks. This has become a major concern for the colony residents to perform funeral rites to the departed soul," says D Govind, president of the colony welfare association.

Those who have to enter the neighbourhood need to cross a narrow bridge. Heavy vehicles cannot pass over the bridge.

In addition to the lack of house pattas, B Hemalatha, a resident of the colony says, the process of change of property ownership is another problem residents find to deal with. "This has to be looked into as we are not able to sell our properties," she says.

Residents say that issuing pattas can be made hassle-free if alternate land is provided to the VPA. "We have brought the issue to the notice of several officers earlier but no action is taken in this regard so far," rues P Eswhara Rao, another resident of the neighbourhood.

Even after decades, their struggle to get house pattas continues in Durgapuram Colony.