A ‘padayatra’ will be taken out to the Nagarjuna Sagar Tail Pond project on July 20 and 21 by CPI(M), demanding better compensation package to the project’s evictees under the new Land Acquisition Act, 2013, to be borne by both the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Former legislator and CPI(M) leader Julakanti Ranga Redy, and the party’s Telangana State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram will lead the walk to the project site, where a demonstration and public meeting will be held on July 21.
Sharing the details at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Reddy said compensation received by the evictees was paltry and was paid eight years later, though the award was passed in 2001. Each family in Telangana received only between Rs.1.25-1.4 lakh, even while those displaced in Andhra Pradesh received Rs.2.7 lakh each.
“The project became a reality after prolonged agitations, resulting in inundation of 1,500 acres of land belonging to eight villages in Damarcherla and Pedavoora mandals of Nalgonda district.
Four villages will be surrounded by water in high floods. Eight lifts will be submerged,” Mr. Reddy informed. The evictees were paid as per the provisions of an earlier Act, and hence, no compensation was paid for assigned lands, and refugee lands, he said.
As both governments availed the benefits of water storage and power production, the burden of compensation should be borne by both, he demanded. Besides, employment should be provided to persons from displaced families.
