Land grabbers, agents thrive

- Top builders eying prime lands
- Madhurawada Zone police registered over 140 cases related to land grabbing

Visakhapatnam: Land-grabbers and brokers of real estate business have distributed potential areas among themselves in Madhuravada
and PM Palem, where most of the land is being exchanged and incidence of land-grabbing is also highest.

Sources among the builders in Madhuravada told this correspondent that real estate brokers and anti-social elements masquerading as
real estate agents have shared the areas in both the places for convenience and avoid clashes among themselves. Though land grabbing
is not organised unlike other cities, some people have come together to share the spoils, the sources added.

“It is still a random activity in Madhuravada and land grabbing is not organised. A few people having knowledge of civil laws are involved
for earning fast money,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Navin Gulati.

However, the police are worried over the growing incidence of grabbing, particularly by the top builders.

The arrest of one of the city’s top builders MVV Satyanarayana, managing director of MVV Builders and the search for dead gangster
Nayeem links with the real estate agents, indicated that the top builders are eying prime lands in the city after it emerged as the biggest
in the residual Andhra Pradesh, said a real estate business owner from PM Palem.

Three international events-- Partnership Summit, International Fleet Review and the recent BIRCS Summit on urbanisation jacked up the
land prices. In addition to these events, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been frequently announcing big projects, which include
relocation of aircraft carrier INS Viraat, millennium towers and mega housing projects.

As there is no inch of land available in prime localities like Seethammadhara, MVP Colony, East Point Colony and Dwarakanagar, the land
prices in Madhuravada, PM Palem, Anandapuram and Bhimili on the outskirts are shooting up.

The recent auction by VUDA fetched Rs 16,000 per square yard in Bhimili mandal under GVMC limits, which was Rs 7,000 per square yard
six months ago.

The real estate agents who need a minimum of 600 square yards to raise a modest apartment are now concentrating in these areas and
even much of the land grabbing cases were reported from these places.

Ex-service personnel, teachers, RTC employees and other middle segment families purchased lands in PM Palem, Madhuravada and
Anandapuram decades ago hoping they would appreciate later.

The land grabbers focused on this segment of land owners, some of who are living abroad and grabbing lands by creating false
documents.

Madhurawada Zone police registered over 140 cases related to land grabbing during last two years. A cumulative of 10 acres land at
various places has been occupied by the land grabbers in this area. Even the first case of PD Act against a grabber was registered from
this area.

“We have identified 15 prominent land grabbers and 35 active rowdy-sheeters in the city and the process is on to bring some of them
under the PD Act fold,” said a senior police officer.

KMP Patnaik