Bhogapuram Greenfield international airport, which remained a dream for the last five years, has been minting money for realtors nevertheless. The real estate companies and brokers have been selling marshy, hilly and barren lands for crores of rupees in the name of upcoming airport. Farmers who sold away their lands for a pittance years ago are shocked by the prices at which they are being sold now.
Government announcements
Realtors descended on the three north Andhra districts of Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Visakhapantam the moment Bhogapuram greenfield airport was mooted during TDP government in 2015 and bought lands from farmers for cheap. The realtors have been jacking up prices every time the state government makes a statement on the project.
Multi-fold rise in prices
Before Bhogapuram airport proposal took shape, the land in the surroundings used to cost around Rs 1 crore per acre. Now it is sold for Rs 5-6 crore. Ventures are mushrooming all over the place. Prospective buyers are being lured with colourful brochures with descriptions of “very close to international airport” even for remote and distant ventures.
Worried farmers
Farmers who once owned lands near Bhogapuram airport project are now a worried lot. The lands there witnessed a sudden demand in 2003-08 during the boom period. Lands adjacent to Chennai-Kolkata highway at a distance of 35 km from Visakhapatnam, which used to cost Rs 50 lakh an acre, were bought at Rs 1 crore. Elated over the doubling of prices for their property, many farmers had then sold away even fertile lands. Now they watch helplessly as realtors earn crores of profit on the same lands.
Capital talk
Apart from Bhogapuram airport, the YSRCP government’s decision to make Vizag as executive capital of the state further fuelled demand for lands in the area. The realtors are quoting exorbitant prices for the plots and lands here. With the state government promising to complete the Greenfield airport by 2023, real estate companies are busy luring the NRIs using the internet. Now locals are complaining that due to rising prices of land, it has become impossible for them to buy a plot and build a house in these surroundings.
