The State government is keen to settle the long-pending issue of five villages or ‘Panchagrama’ near Simhachalam and the government has already given a plan to the Andhra Pradesh High Court, said Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
According to him, the government has urged the High Court to take up the matter, give it a patient hearing and dispose of the case, at the earliest.
“We are aware that people residing in that area have been suffering and to give it a logical conclusion we have submitted a plan based on the recommendations made by the committee to probe into issue,” he said.
“To protect the interest of the residents, we have proposed to give alternative land and as well as provide partial regularisation. The plan proposed is a combination of alternative land and partial regularisation, so that the interest of both the parties – the residents and the Simhachalam Devasthanam – is protected,” said Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
He said to protect the temple land from encroachment, a boundary wall with 22-km circumference is being build around the Simhachalam hill. The project has been sanctioned and we will provide a pathway along the boundary wall, which will serve the purpose of ‘Giri Pradakshina’, he said.
There are several cases pending in the Andhra Pradesh High Court pertaining to this issue, which has been hanging fire since over last three decades.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to find a solution to the issue within 100 days after coming to power.
Earlier, Forum for Development of North Andhra (FDNA) had urged the Chief Minister to provide a solution based on the ‘Gilman Survey’ of 1903.
According to the Gilman Survey, only 39.5 acres in Adavivaram panchayat belonged to the Simhachalam devasthanam while the rest were ‘jeerayati’, ‘banjar’, ‘poramboke’ and forest lands.
