Evacuees protest at Choutuppal RDO office
Choutuppal: Land evacuees from the Regional Ring Road staged a protest at the RDO office in Choutuppal of Yadadri Bhongiri district, On Monday.
The protesters prevented employees from entering the office, staged a sit-in inside the premises, and raised slogans demanding justice. Police forces deployed in large numbers escorted the evacuees out of the office.
The evacuees then organised a dharna in front of the main office gate, continuing their demands for justice. During the protest, Single Window Chairman Chintala Damodar Reddy, BJP Assembly Convenor Dudala Bhiksham Goud, and CPM district committee member B Krishna Reddy spoke on behalf of the evacuees.
They demanded fair compensation, either by allocating land in return for the land taken or by providing compensation based on open market rates. They urged authorities to make decisions only after consulting farmers, plot owners, and house owners to ensure unanimous approval. The leaders warned that if officials acted unilaterally and forcibly occupied farmers’ lands, incidents similar to those in Lagcherla would recur.
The protestors also declared that if justice was not delivered, they would obstruct ministers, MLAs, and officials. They announced plans to besiege the Collectorate office under an all-party leadership soon. They criticised the government and public representatives for ignoring their struggles over the past four months, despite their continued protests with families, including children.
Referring to incidents in Lagcherla and Nirmal, where farmers’ revolts forced the government to relent, the protesters questioned if they would need to resort to a similar rebellion to achieve results. They vowed to continue their struggle until justice was served and urged authorities to take fair decisions, rather than acting unilaterally.
Later, a memorandum was submitted at the office. To prevent any untoward incidents, ACP Patolla Madhusudhan Reddy supervised security arrangements, with CI Manmatha Kumar leading the large deployment.