Farmer halts NH-563 work in Telangana’s Karimnagar over compensation dispute

A farmer in Karimnagar stalled NH-563 expansion work, demanding better compensation for land acquired for the project. Claiming his land was wrongly classified as agricultural, he protested. Officials said compensation revision is possible through arbitration and took him to the police station

Karimnagar: A farmer stalled the National Highway-563 expansion works near Kothagattu on Friday, demanding adequate compensation for his land acquired for the NH.

A native of Kothagattu, Sidduri Rajeshwar Rao owned 11 guntas of land in Survey No. 91. Besides his, the lands of a few other farmers under the same Survey Number were also acquired for the project.

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Though other farmers were paid the highest compensation, Rajeshwar Rao received a meagre amount as officials considered his land agricultural.

Hence, he staged a protest demanding that the officials enhance the compensation by considering his land as non-agricultural. The NH contractor informed Tahsildhar K Surekha and the local police.

Officials visited the spot and tried to convince the farmer. As he failed to withdraw his protest, Rajeshwar Rao was shifted to the police station. Officials opined that there was a possibility for enhancement of compensation if arbitration was filed by the oustees.