No room for livestock in new capital

• 17 villages have 20,000-odd livestock
• Villagers demanding exclusive grazing areas
• Consultative panel assures all help to farmers
• Officials yet to estimate quantum of loss

Hyderabad: The big dreams of making Andhra Pradesh capital on the lines of Singapore is bound to deliver a big blow to farmers who domesticate livestock in 17 villages. The design of the new city will have no room for the 20,000-odd livestock. More than the villagers, it has become a tough task for the municipal and urban development officials to convince villagers and find alternate locations.

The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), which has been approved in the Cabinet on Tuesday, will have to deal with livestock issue besides land pooling. “The experts to be included in the new Authority will have to make provisions for the livestock in an urban setting. The farmers of the 17 villages to be affected have been demanding separate grazing land for their animals,” said a joint director in the Animal Husbandry Department in Guntur to The Hans India.

The live stock population in Tulluru, Nalapadu, Borupalem, Lingayapalem, Rayathuri, Nekkalu, Apparaju Palem, Dondapadu, Shaka- mooru, Malkapuram, Velagapudi, Vangadam, Moda- lingapalem, Uddandarayapalem villages and three other villages under Mangalagiri which are now part of the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh would be rendered homeless.

“The livestock issue has been brought to the attention of the government, but it will be difficult for the officials to convince farmers to earmark grazing areas in the new capital. Because, grazing land provision could not be accommodated in an urban area like the proposed one,” said a senior municipal administration official. “Farmers have already placed their demands before the consultative committee touring the villages for the purposes of land acquisition,” said Mandal Praja Parishad president V Padmalatha. The consultative committee consisting of Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao, Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, the local MLA and others had assured the farmers that their concerns would be taken to the notice of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, she said.

Meanwhile, officials in the revenue and animal husbandry departments in Guntur have clarified that they have not yet received any communication from the government either to submit a report or status of the animal population that might be affected.

They also said that they have not worked on compensation package in lieu of the impending loss of grazing land. Apart from this, poultry industry population of around 3.28 lakh birds would also be affected, and it cannot be accommodated within the capital region, said the sources.