The Andhra Pradesh state government had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on a housing programme planned in R 5 zone in Amaravati. The Special leave petition was against the stay order issued by the AP high court.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had laid foundation stone for construction of 50,000 houses in Amaravati on July 24. He said that the government would construct all the houses and hand them over to the beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries were selected from the NTR and Guntur districts. The house sites in over 900 acres of land. The state government had amended the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act and created residential zone five (R5) to provide housing for the weaker sections.
The farmers approached the AP high court seeking cancellation of the allotment for the weaker sections. However, the court dismissed their petitions and granted permission for the government to distribute house sites.
Though the farmers filed special leave petitions in the supreme court against the AP high court decision, the apex court did not intervene and upheld the decision of the high court.
The farmers have been contesting that the R5 zone would create demographic imbalance in Amaravati. They claimed that the lands were taken by the previous government to build capital, but not houses for the weaker sections. Those lands were allocated for industries, business and commercial activities.
However, the state government went ahead with its plans and had started the construction of the houses. The farmers once again went to the court challenging the decision. The court too said that giving permission for distribution of house sites was not exactly the permission to build houses. The high court then issued a stay order on the government plans.
Now, with the state government approaching the apex court seeking permission for construction of houses, it is to be seen how the court would take it. Meanwhile, the farmers too are planning to approach the court challenging the state government’s decision.