Vemulawada residents flay government for midnight demolition drive

Oustees express anger at Congress government for forcefully vacating their houses without paying compensation

Rajanna-Sircilla: Residents and traders of Vemulawada temple town found fault with officials for taking up demolition drive in the midnight without prior information. People panicked as bulldozers were deployed in front of their houses to demolish their shops and houses on Sunday night.

Notification was issued to acquire land on both the sides for the construction of second bridge across Mulavagu near Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple. Compensation was also paid to the owners who lost their lands. However, some of the oustees refused to take the amount on the ground that the lowest amount was being paid. On January 9, 2025, officials conducted a meeting in the RDO office and sought objections from the oustees.

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After completing all the formalities, officials have started the demolition process. Asking the residents to vacate their houses, officials parked JCBs in front of their shops on Sunday night. Helpless people vacated their houses in the night itself.

Oustees expressed anger at the State government for forcefully vacating their houses without paying compensation. Though there was two days’ time for vacating the houses, they questioned the need to take up demolition drive at midnight.

Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha visited the spot and examined the demolition process. Interacting with oustees, the Collector said that if the road was expanded, the value of their properties would go up.

Vemulawada RDO Radhabai said that 30 structures were being affected at 100 metres of the bridge near Thippapur. As some of the land owners in survey number 10 refused to take compensation, their amount was deposited in the court.

The land falls in survey number 41, 42, 43 belonging to Waqf board. The CEO of the board also clarified that the land belonged to the board. So, under a rival petition, the amount was deposited in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Authority (LARRA) court.

Land owners can get compensation by producing the ownership documents in the court, she said.