CRDA officials’ hope that the land collection process will pick up from Wednesday, the day after Maha Sivaratri were dashed as many land owners refused to pool their properties saying that it was ‘Amavasya’ day, and hence inauspicious.

The land pooling process had been halted on Tuesday due to the festival and officials had hoped to add more land to the 21,742 acres already collected.

S. Someswara Sastry, a priest, said that Amavasya is considered inauspicious by Telugus for centuries and no one will take up important tasks on this day.

He said that giving lands for building the new capital was a major decision and a huge turning point in the lives of landowners. The people do not want to give their lands on such an inauspicious day, the priest said. He added that people fear they would face problems if they take up major works on Amavasya. “I am sure LPS would gather momentum from Thursday which is considered an auspicious day,” Mr Sastry said.

Farmers of Mandadam, N. Veeraraghavulu, D. Srinu and P. Madhava Rao said that CRDA has collected 2,400 acres in the village against the target of 3,400 acres. They said that several farmers had discussed the LPS with their family members in the past three days and decided to give their land after Amavasya.

Similarly landowners in Tullur, Dondapadu, Ainavolu, Malkapuram and other villages of the capital region did not give any land to the CRDA under LPS due to Amavasya. Tullur tahsildar A. Sudheer Babu said that after Amavasya he expects LPS to gain momentum from Thurs-day. People were seen consulting priests about the end of Amavasya time and seeking a good muhurat to pool their lands.