Irrigation staff oppose land tranfer to courts

Vijayawada: The employees of the Irrigation Department here on Monday held a massive protest against the government move to hand over a portion of land to the civil courts. The Bezwada Bar Association had made a representation to the State government and the High Court seeking land from the Irrigation Department to establish the city branch of the Judicial Academy and also introduce new courts. The irrigation employees protested against the move and demanded that the land at their circle office be left to the departmental use. They further said that they would continue their agitation to protect their department lands against encroachments and alienation to other departments. They said that the government had started steps to weaken the irrigation department by alienating its lands to other departments. The employees and officers led by the Krishna District Irrigation Department Non-Gazetted Officers Association president, Ch Ravindra Babu, raised slogans against the Bezwada Bar Association for its moves to take away the land. He said that the land was being used for different purposes by the department including storage of sand bags and other material for flood control. The land is also used for storage of material to protect the 14.30 lakh acres of Krishna delta irrigation system, he said. Ravindra Babu said that the land was required for the irrigation department keeping in view the Krishna delta and its future requirements. The Irrigation Department employees and officers association leaders Ch Sai Kishore, Y Lankeswara Rao, Khadar Baig, the Krishna Joint Action Committee chairman, A Vidya Sagar, secretary Md Iqbal and city unit secretary P Ramesh spoke on the occasion.