The Andhra Pradesh government will regularise homes built on government land in Visakhapatnam and issue house-site title deeds to 28,445 families, ending years of eviction fears for residents across 11 mandals. Officials said the title deeds will be distributed on September 19.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in a statement that the government would regularise 1,933,853 square yards of encroached land, estimated to be worth Rs 8,874 crore. The move covers more than 26,000 unauthorised houses, according to officials, although the government’s stated beneficiary figure is 28,445 families.
“The wait spanning decades is coming to an end,” Naidu said, adding that thousands of poor families who had built homes on government land and lived there for years would receive ownership rights. He said the decision was intended to fulfil the families’ aspirations of having secure homes.
The announcement provides relief to residents who had faced the possibility of eviction and demolition. B Anantha Lakshmi, who heads a committee that fought for residents’ rights in Gajuwaka, said families could now live without the threat of losing their homes. Around 5,597 houses are being regularised in Gajuwaka.
Lakshmi said some residents had been deceived into purchasing land after being told it was privately owned, while others had built basic homes because they had nowhere else to live. She said many children had grown up in the area and that residents had no alternative if the homes were taken away.
Revenue Minister A Satya Prasad said the regularisation was being carried out on “compassionate grounds”. He contrasted the decision with cases in which governments were demolishing illegal constructions on government land and taking possession of the sites. He said the government’s policy was that no poor family should remain without a house or a roof over its head.
The decision marks a departure from the position taken by successive governments, which had been reluctant to regularise extensive encroachments on valuable government land. Officials had previously been concerned that regularisation could encourage further illegal construction. Governments had also considered reclaiming and auctioning the land but did not proceed, partly because of the possibility of litigation.
The Andhra Pradesh government has indicated that around 24,000 additional families could receive a similar benefit. The immediate implementation milestone is the distribution of house-site title deeds to the identified beneficiaries on September 19.
