DC debate: Controversy over transferring 7 mandals from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Amendment Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 11, 2014 included the villages in seven mandals of Bhadrachalam and Palvancha divisions in Khammam district, barring Bhadrachalam village and a few other villages in Boorgampadu mandal. It paved the way for construction of a national project at Polavaram in Andhra Pradesh. It clears many of the hurdles and obstructions in land acquisition process in the submerged villages of the project.
Transferring some of the villages under submerged area is required for rehabilitation of the displaced persons from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh and it will not cause any damage or loss to Telangana.
In fact, many of the villages transferred were originally in Andhra area, prior to 1959. Those were transferred to Khammam district after the formation of Andhra Pradesh for administrative convenience.
The Polavaram project is a multipurpose project irrigating an additional 7.2 lakh acres; stabilising the existing Krishna-Godavari combined irrigated area of 23.5 lakh acres; generating 960 mega watts of hydro power; transferring of 80 tmc of water from Godavari to the Krishna basin in addition to supplying 23.44 tmc of water to Visakhapatnam city for drinking and industrial purposes.
The transfer of water from Godavari to Krishna basin will help Rayalaseema and Telangana by reducing the discharge from Nagarjunasagar to Prakasam Barrage.
There is no dispute on the water allocation for the Polavaram Project. As much as 3,000 tmc of water from Godavari is being discharged into the sea every year in the form of flood waters that cause inundation of crops in several villages.
The objection being raised in the displacement of adivasis is imaginary. Being a Central government project, rehabilitation package for the evacuated villages will be provided. The cultural and other rights of adivasis will be protected as per the prevailing laws.
A reasonable and acceptable relief and rehabilitation package for displaced adivasis should be implemented without causing any heartburn to the displaced persons.
The unconstitutional methods adopted by the NDA government to pass the Polavaram ordinance in the Lok Sabha is deplorable. This move is against several existing laws and amounts to genocide of several lakh tribals.
Telangana state came into being on March 1 with the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, being published in the official gazette. Any change in the borders of Telangana state can be done only by invoking Article 3 of the Constitution, after consulting the state Assembly. But, the NDA government has used an unprecedented and unethical route to transfer seven mandals —Kukunoor, Veleirpadu, Burgampadu, Chintoor, Kunavaram, and Vararamachandrapuram, to residual AP, by way of ordinance.
Originally conceived in 1941, the Polavaram project was always mired in controversy. The project displaces about 3,00,000 people, most of them tribals and submerges almost 4000 hectares of forest land.
Irrigation experts from Andhra like T. Shivaji Rao and T. Hanumantha Rao have already proved that the project suffers from poor design, and a wrong choice of project site.
Ever since the Polavaram dam works began in 2004, the TRS and Telangana Jagruthi have been opposing it. We have participated and supported several protests and also approached the Supreme Court on behalf of affected tribals.
The former AP government had lied about the Forest Rights Act provisions to obtain the environmental clearances for this project. No gram sabha resolution was obtained from the affected villages in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Most villages affected by Polavaram are governed by the Panchayat Act (PESA), 1996. According to this Act, no project can be initiated in a Schedule 5 area without the consent of the local gram sabhas.
The project also violates the National Tribal Policy which mandates that “any project which displaces more than 50,000 tribal people should not be taken up.
Currently, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are opposing the project. People from the seven mandals, which the Union government is trying to forcibly transfer to Seemandhra, are vehemently opposing the move.
They have taken up serious protests opposing this unilateral transfer. On behalf of Telangana, we demand immediate roll-back of the transfer of seven mandals to AP. We request the Centre to change the project design to minimise submergence.
We will do whatever it takes to safeguard the tribals affected by Polavaram dam.
