CPI accuses Congress leaders of backing NSP land encroachments in Khammam

The CPI has accused Congress leaders in Khammam of encouraging encroachments on valuable NSP lands. District secretary Dandi Suresh alleged political backing for illegal occupation of canal lands and demanded immediate removal of encroachments and establishment of a greenbelt.

Khammam: The district CPI leaders accused the ruling Congress party leaders in Khammam of encouraging the encroachment of valuable NSP lands in the city.

The CPI district secretary, Dandi Suresh, questioned why revenue and police officials, who forcibly removed huts erected by the landless poor on NSP canal bunds, remained silent when the wealthy engaged in illegal encroachments.

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He demanded to know why the officials failed to implement the law in cases involving encroachments by the wealthy. He stated that officials, including retired bureaucrats, and political leaders were among those engaging in these encroachments.

The party leaders visited the disputed land and observed that construction activities were proceeding unchecked in the very locations where officials had previously announced that a ‘greenbelt’ would be established following the removal of huts erected by the poor.

It was deplorable that the very political leaders who approached the courts to secure the removal of the poor’s huts from the NSP canal bunds were now themselves encroaching upon these lands and erecting sheds, Suresh said.

Suresh noted that officials had confirmed the existence of a 66-foot-wide Nagarjuna Sagar canal in the NSP Major 2 section; yet, the encroachments, which began with a businessman in front of the Ashtalakshmi Temple in the 12th division, were now proceeding unchecked all along Gollagudem Road.

The encroachments were taking place solely with the support of certain politicians and, he further claimed, some individuals had switched political parties specifically for the purpose of encroaching upon these lands.

The CPI leader demanded that the officials establish a ‘greenbelt’ and remove the encroachments on NSP lands. If these encroachments were not cleared, the party would mobilise the poor to reoccupy these lands and establish their residences there once again, he warned.

The party leaders Jammula Jitender Reddy, Yarra Babu, Enugu Gandhi and others were present.