Tension prevails in Sangareddy as farmers obstruct RRR survey

Tension prevailed at Girmapur in Sadasivapet as a large number of farmers came out to protest against the survey of lands for the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR) when officials reached there to demarcate land on Thursday

Sangareddy: Tension prevailed at Girmapur in Sadasivapet as a large number of farmers came out to protest against the survey of lands for the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR) when officials reached there to demarcate land on Thursday.

Since an interchange was proposed at Girmapur on NH-65, farmers from Girmapur and Peddapur were set to lose nearly 200 acres of land. The interchange will connect the northern and southern parts of the RRR here. Expecting the protest, officials had deployed large numbers of police personnel to ensure that the survey was carried out peacefully. However, the farmers stopped the survey for over two hours, demanding that the survey be carried out only after announcing the compensation package for them.

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When the officials tried to convince them, they demanded a statement from the RDO or Collector. Since the RDO and Collector were busy with Health Minister Damodara Rajanarasimha’s programme in Sangareddy, the talks with the other officials failed. The officials again tried to carry out the survey but faced strong opposition from the farmers, following which the police took the farmers forcibly into custody and shifted them to different police stations while they were raising slogans against the government.

Speaking to Telangana Today, a farmer Ramesh from Girmapur said they were demanding the government only to come up with a statement on the compensation package. He demanded the government to pay the market value of the land for them or to give land for land as compensation. Ramesh said they had no objection to development, but it should not be at the cost of the right of small farmers. The interchange will be built in a double dumb-bell shape to connect the northern and southern parts of the RRR.

CPI (M) leader Jayaraju, who came to support the farmers objected to the treatment meted out to the farmers. He said the officials were not even giving enough time to hear their voices.