Tribals’ stir against Polavaram project
Nearby villages are likely to be submerged once the dam is ready
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-05-04 04:16 GMT
Khammam: While the Telangana region is waiting for June 2, the D-Day, to celebrate their most cherished dream to get feel of their own state, the hapless Adivasis in Bhadrachalam Agency are preparing to stage protest.
The tribal organisations in the region are now regrouping themselves to launch a protest against the construction of Polavaram project.
They chose June 2, the Appointed Day, to organise a huge rally and a public meeting at V.R. Puram to express their unhappiness over the injustice meted out to them by the Centre.
Understandably, the tribals are jittery since they failed to create an impact in the general elections in Telangana that concluded on Wednesday.
The tribals tried their best to attract the attention of the nation by filing en masse nominations for the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency.
Now, the tribal leaders are trying to resume protests simultaneously inviting the intellectuals and representatives of the community to add weight to their demand for the cancellation of the project.
Girijana Samkshema Parishad (GSP) founder president Sonde Veeraiah pointed out that Polavaram project was in violation of the National Tribal Policy which states that 'any project which displaces more than 50,000 tribal people should not be taken up'. Close to two lakh people in Khammam district will be displaced due to Polavaram, he added.
He questioned the rationale behind the Central Cabinet's decision to constitute the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) for the execution of the project when the elections are over in Telangana and polling is yet to be conducted in Seemandhra.
"The approval of gram sabhas is must for the project under the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996," People Against Polavaram Project (PAPP) secretary Sunnam Venkataramana said, criticising the political parties for making tribals scapegoats.