Bachala Narsaiah was under stress of losing land

Hyderabad: A 70-year-old farmer in Medak district Bachala Narsaiah committed suicide on Thursday because he apparently could not bear the thought of losing his land and house on account of Mallannasgar project.

According to Thoguta police inspector Ranga Krishna, Narsaiah owned half-an-acre of land, which was to be acquired for the Mallannasagar project.

For the past few days, he had been depressed because he would get only Rs 3 lakh as compensation as the government was offering Rs 6 lakh per acre.
On Wednesday, while Narsaiah’s wife Bhudamma was outside, he hanged himself from the ceiling.

“He was rushed to a private hospital at Gajwel and then was shifted to Gandhi Hospital at Hyderabad, where he succumbed on Thursday morning,” Mr Ranga Krishna, said adding that a suspicious death under Section 174 CrPC had been registered.

Ms Bhudamma said, “My husband was very concerned about losing the land and house. Officials brought pressure on us to handover the land and house. The compensation offered was also very less. Due to this he was under stress for the past few weeks and unable to bear this, he committed suicide.”

BJP leader M. Rahunandan Rao, who also hails from Medak district, visited the hospital and consoled the grieving family. He said the TS government should be held responsible for the farmer’s death as it had been spreading panic among farmers by resorting to forcible land acquisition in the name of GO 123.

“The farmers have been demanding compensation as per the Centre’s Land Acquisition Act, 2013. But the TS government has been insisting on farmers to take compensation as per GO 123, which has no mention about resettlement and rehabilitation.

The government should immediately stop harassing farmers for land acquisition. This incident should be an eye-opener for the government about what would happen if it resorts to forcible land acquisition,” Mr Rao said.

Retired High Court judge B. Chandra Kumar also visited the hospital and consoled the family members. He demanded TS government withdraw the Mallannasagar project immediately as it was not technically feasible and would result in recurrence of more such incidents if the government resorted to forcible land acquisition.