The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) has issued a seven-day notice to N. Chandrababu Naidu in connection with removing unauthorised structures from his Undavalli residence under the name of Lingamaneni Ramesh and Madhira Venugopala Veerabhadra Rao. The ground floor and first floor along with the swimming pool, ground floor, and dressing room are built without any prior permission from the Competent Authority. The residence in Undavalli village of Guntur district is also within the 100m from the Krishna River course. However, requests submitted from Chandrababu Naidu’s on July 4 said that they had a NOC for constructing the swimming pool and required permission from the Gram Panchayat for building other structures. 

Chandra Babu Naidu’s claims 

Chandra Babu Naidu’s lawyers, in a letter dated July 4, said they purchased the land almost one and a half-decade back. They also claimed that the property has been registered under conveyance deeds. They also stated that a NOC for construction of the swimming pool was issued by the Executive Engineer of Krishna Central Division of Irrigation Department. Apart from this, the Gram Panchayat of Undavalli had accorded them the permission for construction of structures and they have been paying property tax since then. The letter also stated that the construction of structures is beyond 50 meters from the edge of the river and the structures can be raised beyond 50 meters from the river edge. The claims state that the permission and construction was made prior to the formation of APCRDA and the competent local body (Gram Panchayat) accorded permission to them. The local body has been imposing and collecting property tax since then, and hence, the approval from APCRDA is not required. 

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The issues raised by APCRDA 

The APCRDA mentioned that ownership of the land is not disputed, however, the unauthorised structures are, the committee declared that NOC was not obtained, allowing the construction of the swimming pool and that proper paperwork has been submitted to them till date. Thus, they have inferred that no such NOC was issued. APCRDA states that Panchayat resolution cannot be treated as building permission. Contradictory to the letter given by Naidu’s lawyers, no fees were paid, and the Gram Panchayat’s accounts don’t reflect it in the credits. They added that “any tax paid on the unauthorized structures, shall ipso facto does not make structures legal”. Furthermore, APCRDA added that the structure endangers the entire area as it obstructs the natural flow of Krishna River water which leads to massive flooding endangering the human and animal population in the vicinity. In the recent floods in August 2019, due to your unauthorized construction, the premises caused obstruction to the flow of water and also flooded the Undavalli residence’s premises. 

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APCRDA has further accused the former CM of procrastinating in the matter. They said on the day of personal hearing, July 15, no documents or material were filed nor were any arguments advanced from Naidu’s side, instead, an extension request for another 10 days was sought. However, no further documents or material was filed even after 10 days. To this, the APCRDA has said that they did not have any material to offer in rebuttal of the notice issued by this authority. Thus, they have issued them a notice to remove the unauthorised structure in seven-days' time. 

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