Telangana farmers against parting with their land for Congress projects

Vociferously opposing land acquisition, protests being staged against government across the State

Hyderabad: With farmers standing firm against parting with their land, the Telangana Congress government is facing an uphill task in grounding different projects across the State.

The Regional Ring Road, pharma village, multiple irrigation projects, industrial park, Fourth City, Adani cement factory or name any project, farmers are up in arms against the State government. They are vociferously opposing land acquisition and at many places, protests are being staged against the government. Be it Lagacherla, Yacharam mandal in Rangareddy, Makthal constituency, Mahabubabad or Nalgonda, farmers in all these places are not even allowing officials to conduct land surveys.

---

After the relentless battle by farmers in Lagacherla, Rotibanda thanda and neighbouring villages in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Kodangal constituency, the State government withdrew its earlier notification to establish a pharma village. A fresh notification was issued recently stating that it was for setting up a multipurpose industrial park. The Chief Minister, at the Rythu Pandaga meeting held in Mahabubnagar on November 30, had even assured to increase the compensation from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per acre. Yet, the farmers are unrelenting.

The land acquisition for the Regional Ring Road in erstwhile Nalgonda was also affected after farmers demanded fair compensation. Depending on the area, the market value of land in the region varied from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 5 crore and the compensation being offered was being considered inadequate by the farmers.

Last week, farmers and residents of Salarthanda under the Mahabubabad municipality refrained from giving consent to part with their land for national highway works. They argued with officials, who turned up to conduct a survey, staged a protest and raised slogans against the government.

Apart from casting an impact on livelihood and the environment, poor compensation offers and others, farmers are listing out different reasons for being against parting with their land. Among all, it is the small and marginal farmers, owning two-four acres, who are badly affected due to land acquisition. More so, in the last 10 years, agriculture land values have increased considerably in the State. Even in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar, which was once known for its barren land, prices have skyrocketed.

Accordingly, farmers in Makthal constituency are openly declaring that they would not offer even a yard for the Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation project. They staged protests on the Tipranpally-Bapuram under Utkoor mandal in Narayanpet on Wednesday. Many farmers say they have been cultivating the land since generations and would end up at on the streets if the government acquired their land.

Amidst the farmers’ stiff opposition, government officials admitted that land acquisition for different projects was a challenge. Meanwhile, the government was shifting the blame on opposition parties and even alleging that they were instigating the farmers. How it will wriggle out of the current situation and get the proposed projects going remains to be seen.