Pothunamallaiahpalem, popularly known as P.M. Palem (PMP), is nearly a 25-year-old residential colony founded by the A.P. Housing Board in 1982.
The houses were constructed and handed over to the allottees by 1990. In all, 3,000 houses of multiple income groups had been constructed by the APHB, which subsequently triggered development in an area considered as outskirts of the city.
Today, the area is home to the city’s elite and upper middle class, who had built houses in private organised real estate layouts. Today, the residential areas are expanding towards the NH 5.
N. Ratna Prabha, a lecturer and a social worker, says that the area is totally pollution-free, quite spacious, and well planned by the APHB with good roads and greenery and healthy environment. The presence of a police station right under our nose gives us a sense of security and confidence.
Houses purchased from the housing board for a price of Rs.40,000, Rs.1.30 lakh, or Rs.2 lakh for LIG, MIG, and HIG categories are now being resold at a whopping Rs. 60 lakh (MIG) to Rs.1 crore (HIG).
The residential township of PMP, including the housing board colony and the actual village, has graduated into a sophisticated township with several high-rise buildings. The VUDA, of late, is laying a spacious 75-feet road in the village connecting the National Highway. The area also has underground drainage system in place.
Shruthi, a college student, says the colony is proud of having a state-of-the-art sports stadium, which hosted several prestigious cricket matches, including the T20 India-Australia match, IPL match between Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings, and the India-Sri Lanka match, which enhanced the value of the residential township.
The area is also a host to an old-age home, which is taking care of destitute men and women, orphans and semi-orphans, and women in distress, which is run by a social worker Ravi Kumar Sastry.
A missionary organisation called the Bethany Group has been working in P.M. Palem for three decades by providing education at affordable cost to the poor and middle class. The organisation is also running a primary hospital to take care of the poor and the needy in the area and running orphanages. Another noted education institution is the Sanketika Vidya Parishad.
According to Zonal Commissioner N. Shivaji, roads to be developed by the VUDA at a cost of Rs. 50 crore in Kommadi, Sivasaktinagar, Bakkanapalem and Yendada, will all connect PM Palem.
