Polavaram evacuees reject land swap deal

KAKINADA: Those affected by the Polavaram Project have refused to vacate their land for ‘land to land’ compensation. This has come as a big blow to the state and Central governments. The tribals demanded that the government allot land to them in only the command area.

“The government acquired fertile land near the River Godavari. But Revenue officials are showing the tribals land that is not cultivable, land that  cannot be used for agricultural purposes,” said Polavaram Nirvasitha Sangham leader Punem Babu Rao. If this was not possible, then the authorities should give cash in lieu of their land, he told the collectors of East and West Godavari districts.

He said that according to the New Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,  people belonging to the Schedule Castes or the Schedule Tribes who were affected by a project would be provided land equivalent to the land acquired or two and a half acres of land, whichever was lower. But, the command area belongs outside the 5th schedule area and is not suitable as compensation to the victims. The government should therefore give compensation in the form of cash, Mr Rao said.

Sarpanch of Kondamodalu village V. Vijaya said that land compensation should be three times its registration value. “The government should take consideration of land situated in the nearest place in a non-tribal area,” said Dalita Bahujana Vyavasaya Kamika Sangham state secretary Ayinapurapu Suryanarayana.

He said that Angaluru village, for example, was a tribal area and the government was vacating the village. The people had demanded that the government fix  compensation by considering Rs 6 lakhs per acre, the registration value at Purushothapatnam village, and pay a minimum of Rs 18 lakhs per acre to the victims.