The capital region farmers, who refused to ‘sacrifice’ their lands to the land-pooling are in for a rude shock. The proposed Express Way in the capital region is made to pass through these villages and fields and the villagers face the threat of eviction.
The land-pooling in these villages is kept on hold after the intervention of Janasena president and movie star Pawan Kalyan. Following Pawan Kalyan’s warning that he would take on the government by staging fast unto death the TDP government had to buy peace with the ‘power star’, who helped the TDP win power by campaigning in 2014 election. The government announced that it won’t go against the will of the farmers. The capital region minister Narayana said the government would persuaded the farmers to part with their lands for capital purpose amicably. Triumphant Pawan later retreated into his movie-making after the famous meeting with chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada.
But, government has found a way to take revenge on the farmers who refused to the line of the CRDA. The capital region development authority discovered that the same farmers could be driven out of their villages and the effective way is to lay an Express Way. The road network is reportedly designed in such a way that these roads pass through their farm lands and villages.
The farmers were shocked to know that the officials’ assurance that their villages would be left untouched, was a blatant lie and the assurance was given to the farmers only to silence the resistance. That the CRDA is taking revenge on the villages that refused to sacrifice their lands for land-pooling and got stay orders from Court came to light in yesterday’s meeting organized to create Master Plan awareness among the villagers. The CRDA is targeting all these villages which are not amenable to the land-pooling in a subtle way. But, now the farmers cried foul in the meeting that the CRDA is taking revenge on them as they refused to ‘sacrifice ‘ their lands for land-pooling.
The ire of the villagers derailed the meeting when the farmers demanded the scrapping of the design immediately. The farmers refused to allow the meeting conducted in a peaceful way. Majority of the farmers are from the village that have not participated in the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) and obtained stay orders from High Court against it. Designing the roads through the green fields and villages is tantamount to contempt of the court, they said. They also said they would approach the High Court and complain against the CRDA officials for trying to vitiate the environment with such plans.
Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) commissioner N Srikanth too failed to pacify the angry farmers when they confronted with him on the dubious road network . They asked the CRDA commissioner to tell why they were insisting on the new expressway while Outer Ring Road (ORR) alignment through Venkatapalem village had already been approved.
The farmers realized that they were walking on a minefield of world-class capital. World-class capital is demanding too many sacrifices. World-class city needs world-class facilities which includes world -class roads. Laying of the world-class roads need more land. More land means farmers should be ready to sacrifice their lands and houses in the villages too to make room for these shining roads. Farmers demand withdrawal of new road network proposed through the village and green fields. “CRDA is carrying out its plans without following the due procedure and law. These actions are violating the court orders,“ they fret and fumed. The farmers said the CRDA was ignoring the resolutions adopted by the Undavalli village panchayat and Tadepalli Mandal Parishad opposing the acquisition of green fields and bulldozing of houses in the guise of roads.
