Residents of five villages in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district have been living in limbo for the past 23 years due to a government order that declared their properties illegal. The order stated that the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Simhachalam was the true owner of a 9,069-acre area, preventing the residents from buying, selling, transferring, modifying, or repairing their homes and businesses. Around 25,000 families have been impacted by this decision, leaving them unable to make repairs or sell their properties. Many of the affected residents are retired individuals who are now trapped in a state of despair. Despite efforts by a residents’ association to challenge the order in court, thousands of families accepted the order and paid the required amount to regularize their properties. However, several families were unable to regularize their properties due to payment delays. The situation has left the residents feeling cheated and demanding justice. They continue to struggle with restrictions on their properties and anxiously wait for a resolution to their predicament.
