Major eviction drive: 600 families now homeless

 Khammam: Tension prevailed in Khammam town on Tuesday after revenue authorities, backed by a heavy police force, demolished huts erected on Bhoodan land in the outskirts of the town.

The eviction drive was carried out in Velugumatla area, where nearly 600 families had reportedly been residing on about 60 acres of Bhoodan land for the past several years. According to official sources, around 1,500 police personnel from Khammam and neighbouring districts were deployed at the site in the early hours to prevent any law and order issues.

Earthmovers were pressed into service to clear the huts. Residents, including women and elderly persons, attempted to resist the demolition, leading to tense scenes. Police, however, brought the situation under control and ensured that no major untoward incident occurred, officials added.

Authorities maintained that the land belongs to the government and that notices had been issued on multiple occasions asking the occupants to vacate. “As they allegedly failed to comply, the administration proceeded with the eviction as per due process,” they said.

The displaced families expressed anguish over the action, alleging that they were not provided alternative accommodation. They claimed to have been living there for nearly a decade and had even approached the courts seeking regularisation and house site pattas.

The district unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the government immediately allot alternative house sites to the affected families.

Meanwhile, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi strongly condemned the demolition. BRS Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader and Rajya Sabha member Vaddiraju Ravichandra termed the action “unjust and inhuman” and alleged that poor families who had been seeking pattas were rendered homeless.

In a statement, he urged the government to halt the demolitions and grant pattas to eligible beneficiaries. He further alleged that influential persons and real estate interests were eyeing the land and that using police force against the poor reflected an “authoritarian approach”.

Heavy police deployment continued in the area as a precautionary measure, officials said.