Land for capital: Farmers to intensify agitation

• Upland ryots veer round to government’s point of view
• But agriculturists in 10 villages where they raise two to three crops a year are determined to fight the govt
• Situation turns volatile with realtors swarming villages

Guntur: TDP government’s unilateral declaration on location of the State capital seems to have brought more problems to it than bringing cheers. Right from zeroing on 29 villages under three mandals – Thulluru, Tadeaplli and Mangalagiri – to aerial survey by Singapore team, all the decisions taken by the government are totally a one-sided match, according to critics.

The lush green fields between Vijayawada and Guntur may give way for concrete jungle dotting with skyscrapers. The government may steamroller their way to take away lands from farmers to build a capital city. But it may not be able to escape public reproach for its unilateral decision.

In fact, Vijayawada and Guntur have come under the shadow of realtors even before the government declared its intention to build the capital city between the two cities. Realtors at first swooped down on Vijayawada and its surrounding areas like Gannavaram, Nuzvid and Nandigama as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu declared that capital city would spring up in the vicinity of Vijayawada.

Taking everyone by surprise, the government decided to acquire more than 30,000 acres of land, most of it fertile lands, in three mandals to build world-class capital city with the expertise from Singapore and Japan.

What is more than that met the eye in the venture was that “coterie surrounding the powers-that-be has prior knowledge of things to come,” according to critical analysis by those in the know of machinations of the government. A group of people swooped down on the 29 villages which were chosen by the government for land acquisition or acquiring land through land pooling scheme. This had happened much before the government declared its intention to acquire land in these villages. It meant that the “coterie” had the knowledge about the venture beforehand.

Apart from it, the government did not include MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, who has greater influence among the people in the villages in the three mandals, in the sub-committee constituted to hold talks with farmers on land acquisition procedure. The rulers did not bother to consult the farmers nor had they discussed the subject even with the ruling party leaders. On the direction from Hyderabad, a group of two or three Ministers went round the villages under the pretext of holding “gram sabhas” (village conventions). When the farmers were up in arms, the government included local MLA in the sub-committee but kept Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, a six-time MP, out of it. Though the farmers in upland areas in the three mandals agreed to give away their lands, the government is still facing a stiff resistance from farmers on the river front. The farmers on the river front raise two to three crops in any given year.

As the farmers on the river front have delivered a grave warning to the government, the proposed study tour by Singapore experts by road was given up. Instead, the government organised aerial survey to obviate the danger of the expert team encountering protests in the villages. The farmers in 10 villages are still determined to fight the government off their lands. They rued their decision to support the TDP in the elections.

By: Y B Ashok Vardhan