Sitarama Enkoor link canal: Farmers forced to give land without compensation?
The affected farmers said the hurried inauguration of the project pump houses had turned futile as water was not released into the canal after the inauguration
Enkoor (Khammam): Even as Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao thanked farmers for giving their lands voluntarily for the Sitarama project’s Enkoor link canal, many of the farmers whose lands were acquired said the land acquisition was forceful, not voluntary. In fact, some of the farmers were allegedly detained by the police for demanding a compensation and for opposing the canal work.
The affected farmers said the hurried inauguration of the project pump houses had turned futile as water was not released into the canal after the inauguration and that farmers were still awaiting compensation for their lands. Speaking to Telangana Today, Telangana Rythu Sangham leader Bhukya Veerabhadram said some of the farmers were detained for opposing the execution of the canal works in their fields without paying the compensation. Farmers Nunavath Srinu, Bhukya Kishan and Bhukya Kittu of Enkoor were taken into police custody and the works were carried out in their fields prior to the pump house inauguration by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on August 15, he said.
Around 100 acres of land was acquired from as many as 80 farmers without issuing a gazette notification and award of compensation to construct the eight kilometre-link canal to connect the project main canal with NSP canal head regulator in Enkoor mandal. When the farmers started protesting against the canal works, the Minister assured them a proper compensation; the farmers trusted him and consented for the works to continue. However, even after several months, the compensation was not paid, they said.
The Minister’s promise that the Chief Minister would make a statement on the compensation at the Wyra public meeting on August 15 proved to be false as no announcement was made regarding the compensation. Non-tribal farmers who support the Minister are silent on the issue but tribal farmers are worried about their compensation, Veerabhadram said.
Another leader of the sangham, D Nageshwar Rao, said the Minister and Wyra MLA Ramdas had forced farmers in Repallewada, Enkoor, Himam Nagar, BM thanda in Enkoor mandal and Vinoba Nagar of Julurpad mandal to give their lands for the canal works. But they remained indifferent about the compensation to be paid to the farmers. Initially, the fixing of the quantum of compensation was put on hold on the pretext of the Lok Sabha polls. Later it was said the Chief Minister would give a statement on the issue and now the farmers were told to wait as the land value was going to be enhanced after September 1. Due to the canal works, the farmers have lost the crop season as they could not carry out farming due to the ongoing works, he noted.
The farmers are demanding the government to fix the compensation three times of the market value of land as per the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and want Rs 80 lakh per acre. If the government fails to fix and pay the compensation at the earliest, serious agitations would be launched, the sangham leaders warned.
