Rehabilitation may kick up row between T, AP

1.93 lakh people may be displaced; 73,000 of them are tribals

• Uncertainty over their rehabilitation
• T Bill does not clarify who’ll bear costs
• It only says Centre will give it national status
• Over 1 lakh acres of agri land face submergence
• They lie in 276 villages located in T, Seemandhra
• Of these, 205 are in T and rest in Seemandhra

Tribals who lose their fertile lands under any project should be compensated with lands only in the command area of the particular irrigation project. If it is not possible, the government should acquire private lands and compensate the same to the affected. In the present case, the command area of the project lies in Seemandhra. Will those displaced in Khammam district get lands there?

Hyderabad: The issue of rehabilitation of tribals, who will lose their lands due to the Polavaram project, is set to become a bone of contention between Telangana and residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.

With the Centre declaring the Polavaram project as the national project and including the same in the AP Reorganisation Bill, the rehabilitation of displaced tribal people in the project-affected villages assumes significance as there is no clarity on how to compensate the farm lands owned by the tribals. According to official figures, around one lakh acres of agricultural lands would be submerged in as many as 276 villages in both the Telangana and the Seemandhra districts. A total of 121 villages would be submerged in Bhadrachalam division and 84 villages in Palwancha division in Khammam district. In East Godavari and West Godavari districts, the total number of affected villages will be 71. Out of the affected 1.93 lakh people, 73,000 are tribals.

As per the State government’s order (GO 68) issued in 2005, the Relief and Rehabilitation Policy states that the tribals, who lose their fertile lands under any project, should be compensated with lands only.

It is clearly mentioned that the displaced tribals should be given lands in the command area of the particular irrigation project. If it is not possible the government should acquire private lands and compensate the same to the affected. Former Engineer– in- Chief ( Irrigation) and United Nations Consultant T Hanumantha Rao said the same rule has also been specified in the Relief and Rehabilitation Manual issued by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

“The affected tribals under the project have been identified in both the regions. The crux of the issue is whether the displaced in Khammam district will get lands in the project command area, which is located in the Seemandhra region. Once the State is bifurcated, tribals living in the Telangana region should be given lands in Seemandhra State,’’ the irrigation explained. The total command area under Polavaram project in the Seemandhra is 7.2 lakh acres and the duty of the government is to acquire the lands from private persons if the government lands are not available and transfer the land ownership rights to the tribals as per the R and R policy, he added.

“Extending monitory benefits instead of lands as compensation will attract an offence under the R and R policy. The Union Government has the responsibility of doing justice to the affected tribals as it has decided to undertake the project. Even if the State is divided, the two State governments should play proactive role to safeguard the interests of tribals,” Hanumantha Rao pointed out.