Fishermen stage dharna protesting encroachment of irrigation tank in Mancherial

They said that they would lose their livelihood if the tank was encroached upon by some persons, who they alleged had registered the land on their names.

Mancherial: Fishermen staged a dharna here on Sunday alleging that a portion of an irrigation tank near Kishtapur village in Jannaram mandal was encroached upon. Stating that 80 families of fishermen were depending on the tank by raising fish and catching fish in it, the fishermen said some persons illegally occupied the rear part or Shikham of the tank by laying an earthen road.

They said that they would lose their livelihood if the tank was encroached upon by some persons, who they alleged had registered the land on their names.

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The fishermen raised an objection to officials of irrigation and revenue land survey departments who tried to carry out a survey to set boundaries of the tank and agriculture fields, asking the officials to first remove the road.

The officials cancelled the survey and postponed it to Monday. The officials said they wanted to conduct the survey following a complaint lodged by the fishermen recently.