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Palamur project hits roadblock
The prestigious irrigation project taken up by the KCR government after formation of Telangana -- Palamur-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project -- has hit a roadblock.
Nagarkurnool (Mahabubnagar): The prestigious irrigation project taken up by the KCR government after formation of Telangana -- Palamur-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project -- has hit a roadblock.
Over 100 farmers of Karukonda village in Bijanapally mandal of Mahabubnagar district have submitted letters to the District Collector on January 4 annulling their consent to sell their lands to the government for the project.
These farmers had signed the agreement papers with the government officials in October last expressing their willingness to sell their lands. The amount at which they would sell has been left blank so that the officials would write suitable amounts.
The agreement papers had many drastic conditions like the farmers giving up their right to ask for money for borewells, electricity connection and other assets on their lands. One condition also stipulated that they will not seek any legal remedy in any court for enhancement of compensation.
Farmers withdrew their consent to sell citing the reasons that they had been coerced into signing the agreements and that only partial information/ half truths were bandied about while obtaining their signatures.
With surrounding villagers, especially from those hamlets and villages that are going to be submerged, set to adopt the Karukonda path, the government is staring at a serious roadblock to its prestigious plans.
GO 123 OR Acquisition Act?
The State Government is ‘procuring’ land for this project using GO MS No. 123 that was issued on July 30, 2015. Given the fact that the central legislation, ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013’ (LARR 2013) mandates many measures in favour of the land losers.
But the government decided to adopt GO 123 route. As per this GO the government is coming out with “a framework that allows the land owners to participate in the development process by willingly sell their land and properties thereon, for a consideration on the basis of an agreement between landowners and the user department..” The crucial word here is ‘willingly’.
The government has assumed the guise of a ‘buyer’ who is procuring land from ‘willing sellers’. But for all practical purposes the willingness of farmers is nowhere to be found. The ruling party MLA, the RDO, the MRO are propagating among the farmers that they have no other option than taking the amounts being given.
