Farmers in no mood to give in

land acquisition for Mallannasagar project

Take out rallies, urge District Collector to acquire land only under RFCTLARR Act

• Some Kistapur elders had met Harish and were convinced by his offer of compensation as per GO 123
• However, some youth and women held a ‘gram sabha’ at Etigadda Kishtapur on Tuesday night and decided against taking the offer

Thoguta: Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao’s hurried announcement on Tuesday that the villagers of Etigadda Kishtapur had agreed to alienate their lands abiding by GO 123 has backfired.

Hundreds of farmers from Etigadda Kishtapur, Vemulaghat, Erravalli and Singaram met District Collector Ronald Rose on Wednesday and submitted a representation to him, requesting him to acquire their lands only through Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act of 2013, for the Mallannasagar project.

The youth and women held a gram sabha at Etigadda Kishtapur on Tuesday night, after their village elders had met the Irrigation Minister and were convinced by his offer of Rs 6 lakh per acre compensation and a 2BHK house in a village he promised to build for the villagers somewhere in Siddipet division.

A hurried press meet was held on Tuesday afternoon and a few village elders went on camera, agreeing to the Minister’s offer. No woman from Etigadda Kishtapur went to meet Harish Rao, even though 50 men went there to negotiate the compensation. Women were in tears and were furious that some men from the village had not asked them for their opinion before agreeing to the compensation.

On Wednesday morning, the villagers of Etigadda Kishtapur and Vemulaghat started gathering to go to the District Collectorate to register their protest against land acquisition through GO 123. However, the police stopped their vehicles and obstructed them from proceeding to Sangareddy.

When the villagers decided to walk to Gajwel and find some other public transport to get to Sangareddy, and started taking out rallies, the police relented and allowed them to hire some vehicles. Led by Vanteru Pratap Reddy, President, Telugu Rythu, they proceeded to Sangareddy.

By the time the villagers reached Sangareddy, Congress leaders Damodara Rajanarasimha, T Jayaprakash Reddy, Addanki Dayakar and others had already reached the Collectorate with some other farmers of the affected villages.

Pashya Padma, President of Telangana Rashtra Rythu Sangham, urged the District Collector to issue notification for land acquisition using the 2013 Act, just like a notification was issued through GO 123, to which Ronald Rose agreed.

The Collector made it clear once again that the farmers were free to choose between the 2013 Act and the GO 123. The farmers conveyed to the Collector that those lands which were considered ‘Saada Bainamis’ were being acquired without the consent of the farmers who were in position of the lands currently.

To this, the Collector asked them to submit individual cases where such things happened. Registration of ‘Saada Bainamis’ was done last month. But for lands under the villages coming under submergence, it was not done by the revenue authorities, according to the farmers of all the affected
villages.