Farmers stage rasta-roko, oppose acquisition of land for NH-63

Farmers from Luxettipet, Modela, Suraram, Gullakota, Pothepalli and Itikyal villages in Luxettipet mandal gathered on the road and blocked traffic for a while.

Mancherial: Farmers of six villages staged a rasta-roko opposing acquisition of their agriculture lands for the proposed greenfield highway 63 on the Nizamabad-Jagdalpur National Highway at Suraram village in Luxettipet mandal on Sunday.

Farmers from Luxettipet, Modela, Suraram, Gullakota, Pothepalli and Itikyal villages in Luxettipet mandal gathered on the road and blocked traffic for a while. They said they would not allow the government to acquire their lands for laying the national highway again, stating that they had lost lands for the Sripada Yellampalli project 15 years ago.

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The agitating farmers said they would lose their source of income if their farms were acquired for the road network and that their lives would be thrown out of gear. Asserting that they would not sacrifice their lands for the national highway, they said they were being offered less compensation than market value of their assets.

Due to the protest, traffic came to a standstill for 30 minutes. Police rushed to the spot and convinced the farmers to withdraw their agitation.

On March 4, farmers from various villages Hajipur and Luxettipet mandals had submitted a representation to Collector Badavath Santosh seeking his intervention in acquisition of lands. They found fault with officials for altering alignment of the stretch for three times. They alleged that the alignment was changed to benefit certain rich people.

A total of 1,433 acres of land in 35 villages along the banks of Godavari from Modela village in Luxettipet to Mulkalla of Hajour mandal are going to be acquired for the greenfield national highway.