The AP government- appointed committee has concluded that YSRCP leader Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has encroached on 63.72 acres of government land, including 52.40 acres of forest land. It has also been revealed that he has received government subsidies for the orchards in the encroached lands.
It has confirmed that this includes 8.05 acres of land previously acquired by the government for the Payavanka reservoir and some assigned land. It said that the Sajjala family members have encroached on 52.40 acres of forest land in survey number 1629 in CK Dinne village limits at eight places, destroying the forest and causing serious damage to the environment.
It is stated that they have fenced the encroached land and built a guest house and four rooms in it without any permission. It is revealed that fruit orchards are being grown on those lands. It is stated that in addition to illegally cultivating the forest lands, they have also received subsidies under various government schemes for drip irrigation and construction of a harvesting room for storing mangoes.
The district administration recently submitted the final report of a three-member committee comprising Kadapa RDO John Irwin, Survey and Land Records Assistant Director Murali Krishna, and Badvel Sub-Divisional Forest Officer Swami Vivekananda on the land encroachment by the Sajjala family members to the government.
The committee has identified Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy’s elder son Sajjala Sandeep Reddy and six other family members as encroachers. It has recommended that the government immediately take possession of the lands they have encroached on. The Sajjala family has a vast estate 7 km from Kadapa. Locally, it is known as the Sajjala Estate.
A local person named Raja Nayak has complained to the government more than 50 times since 2022 that Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy’s family members have encroached on government lands. Despite many complaints, the authorities did not look into the estate during the previous YSRCP government.
After the coalition government came to power, it ordered an investigation. The committee stated that the Sajjala family members deliberately encroached on forest lands, causing severe damage to the environment and biodiversity, destroying wildlife habitats, and causing soil erosion.
It also stated that the Forest Range Officer had issued notices to Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and his family members in 2014 over the encroachment of forest lands. They explained that the land had been in their possession for 20 years, requested that their lands not be seized without proper investigation, and that they would cooperate with the investigation.