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Non-implementation of R R package hits displaced people
It is literally the sacrifice of people of 22 villages, which facilitated the construction of Sardar Gouthu Latchanna Thotapalli Barrage at Ullibhadra village in Garugubilli mandal of the district.
Thotapalli Barrage
Vizianagaram: It is literally the sacrifice of people of 22 villages, which facilitated the construction of Sardar Gouthu Latchanna Thotapalli Barrage at Ullibhadra village in Garugubilli mandal of the district. The project which provides irrigation facility to 1.9 lakh acres in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts, has ushered in agricultural prosperity in the region.
About 10,000 families hailing from the 22 villages, provided 7,000 acres of farm land for the project execution in 2003. Adequate compensation was not paid to them for the land and other property acquired for the barrage. People of all the submerged villages were not properly rehabilitated.
Pinnintiramineedu Valasa which is located adjacent to the barrage, is one of the affected villages. The State government acquired the lands and other property of 311 families in 2006 as the village faced submersion threat from the barrage. A compensation ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 was paid for each house.
The government acquired wet lands and dry lands from farmers by paying a compensation of Rs 1.35 lakh and Rs 95,000 per acre. But it failed to fulfill its promise of implementing proper relief and rehabilitation (RR) package for the displaced families.
As a result, the displaced people are still living in Pinnintiramineedu Valasa despite submersion threat if there is a rise in water level in the barrage. The house sites allotted to the displaced families as part of the rehabilitation package were not properly developed.
No basic amenities were provided to the colonies for the oustees. The displaced families alleged that large scale irregularities took place in implementation of the RR package. About 25 youths and 22 widows of the village were not covered under it. House sites were not demarcated for 23 displced persons even after the distribution of pattas.
Despite several representations to the revenue officials and people’s representatives, no steps have been taken to rehabilitate the displaced. Narrating their woes to The Hans India, P Venkataramana, a project oustee, said: “We are making rounds of revenue offices for quite a long time seeking effective implementation of the RR package covering all the displaced persons. But the authorities concerned are indifferent to our plight.’’
Another project oustee Ramulamma said: “The government totally ignored the rehabilitation of the displaced after completion of the project. Many displaced farmers are yet to get compensation for the lands acquired by the government for the irrigation project.
Though we staged dharnas at the RDO office of Parvathipuram demanding implementation of the RR package in a full-fledged manner, the district authorities have remained unmoved.’’ The displaced people said they were left with no option except launching an agitation if the government failed to do justice to them immediately.
By P Nagaraju
