Visakhapatnam: Inclusion of tribal revenue villages in VMRDA opposed
Visakhapatnam: Demanding the exclusion of non-scheduled tribal revenue villages from the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (VMRDA) purview, the tribals staged a protest here on Sunday.
Opposing the inclusion of non-scheduled tribal villages, AP Girijana Sangam Fifth Schedule Sadhana Committee and AP Agricultural Labour Union held a dharna at Kotnapalle in Ravikamatham mandal.
Speaking on the occasion, Kula Vivaksha Porata Samiti district vice president Ch Suribabu accused that the natural resources in the agency will be looted by merging the non-scheduled tribal revenue villages with the VMRDA. They pointed out that such move would lead to handing over tribal lands to corporate players.
Andhra Pradesh Tribal Association mandal vice president T Potaraju alleged that in the name of development non-scheduled tribal lands would be taken back.
AP Girijana Sangam Fifth Schedule Sadhana Committee district honorary president K Govinda Rao said the state government announced that non-scheduled villages will be merged with the scheduled area. However, no action was taken to this effect so far, he added.
He demanded the government to withdraw the idea of handing over the natural resources to the real estate companies by adding the villages in the purview of VMRDA.