HC Shock: Stay On Houses In R5 Zone

In what can be a big setback to AP state government, the AP High Court has issued a stay over the construction of houses in the R5 Zone in Amaravati capital region. The three-member High court bench comprising Justice DVSS Somayajulu, Justice CH Manavendranath Rai and Justice Ravinath Tilhari have passed the interim orders while hearing the petitions filed against the construction of houses in the R5 zone in Amaravati.

Amaravati farmers and some dalit organisations have moved against the AP government’s decision to give lands for non-locals in the capital region. 1402 acres of land in the capital region has been allocated to the district collectors of Guntur and Krishna districts and passed the GO. Challenging these, Amaravati farmers who offered lands to the government under Land Pooling approached the High Court. The HC verdict gives huge relief to the petitioners. Meanwhile, the AP government is yet to respond to the HC’s interim orders.

Going into details, the R5 zone is a housing zone for the poor that was carved out by the YSRCP government in 2023. It includes over 900 acres of land, made up of plots that were earlier part of other zones — including a non-polluting industry zone, town centre zone, educational zone, business park zone etc. — and now converted to the R5 zone.

It can be noted that the initial master plan of capital Amarvati was formulated by the previous government helmed by Chandrababu Naidu. Land was pooled from farmers and landowners in the region on the promise of developed plots in an urbanised capital city. But all development activity was halted after the YSRCP came to power in 2019. This led to the legal battle between Amaravati farmers and the incumbent state government.