ST/SC panel members visit Vempenta

Kurnool: Tension prevailed while a five-member committee constituted by National Commission for SC/ST was collecting opinion about the proposed power plant at Vempenta village on Friday.

Tense situation gripped the village for some time when supporters of the construction of the plant clashed with the people opposing it. An open enquiry was conducted in the presence of about 3,000 villagers.

Majority of the villagers have been strongly opposing the propose power plant since 2014. They are arguing that they would lose almost 7,000 acres of agriculture land and the village would be submerged. Turning down all the requisitions and demands, Rank Power Project Company started construction work with the estimation of Rs 80 crore.

The villagers took the matter to the notice of SC/ST Commission, Human Rights Commission, and Central Water Commission. In this backdrop, the National SC and ST Commission constituted a five-member committee. This committee consisting of Mohan Rao, AVA Satyanarayana, Hanmantharao and Ramprasad visited the village to take stock of the situation. They also visited the protestors, who have been on hunger strike for the last 321 days.

Villagers Bahaddur, Ramesh, Sam and Srinivas explained the ground realities to the committee. The protesters raised slogans against Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishnamurthy and former Minister Erasu Pratap Reddy.