Revanth Calls for Humane Approach for Acquisition

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy ordered district collectors to evolve a humane approach while acquiring lands for the construction of Hyderabad Regional Ring Road (RRR), national and state highway projects. Officials have been asked to pay compensation to the farmers as per norms and not force them to accept lower compensation for acquiring their lands.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting on the problems being faced by NHAI (National Highways Authority of India for the construction of roads in the state at the Secretariat here on Wednesday. He questioned the officials for the delay in land acquisition despite the government extending all cooperation.

The collectors pointed out farmers were not willing to give their lands in view of variation in the prices of land as the market value of the lands was high whereas the government prices were low. Reddy said that the farmers were not ready to lose their lands since they owned them for generations together. The collectors were advised to hold a meeting with farmers and convince them of land acquisition.

The Chief Minister also brought to the attention of the officials that the Union minister for road transport and national highways Nitin Gadkari had agreed in principle to consider the southern and northern parts of RRR as one and assign a single number to the two. The officials have been asked to take necessary steps towards a tripartite agreement between the state government, Union government and the NHAI and complete it immediately.

Reddy enquired about the obstacles in land acquisition in the northern part of RRR. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri collector Hanmanth K. Zendage said that some farmers had approached the court due to a mistake in the alignment issue and the court had granted a stay. The Chief Minister told the collector to file a counter to vacate the stay by Friday.

He enquired about the status of land acquisition on the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor in Khammam district. Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who participated in the video conference from Khammam, said that the proposed road was passing through costly lands near Khammam and the farmers will be convinced about the compensation. The minister also said that the NHAI proposal to convert the national highway from Khammam to Ashwaraopet into state highway should not be accepted as works on the Tallada-Devarapalli green field road are in progress.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka appealed to NHAI officials to construct service roads in big villages and underpasses at necessary places so that farmers could go to their fields on the road that is being constructed as part of the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor. In response, NHAI project member Anil Chaudhary said the highway authority will look into the issue.

The meeting also discussed the proposal to build gravel roads along the national highways for the benefit of agricultural vehicles and farmers. Chaudhary said that this matter will be taken into consideration.

The Chief Minister opined that construction of gravel roads will be useful for farmers and there will be no road expansion problems in the future.

The issue of transfer of forest lands to develop Armoor-Jagityal-Mancherial and Vijayawada-Nagpur corridor roads were also discussed.

Reddy asked the collectors of Nizamabad, Manchiryala and Mahabubabad districts to allocate government lands as compensation for forest lands. The state revenue and forest departments were advised to coordinate with each other in the transfer of lands. The Chief Minister suggested that the forest department should take the government lands in lieu of their lands acquired for construction of roads.

Reddy suggested that payments related to removal of utilities under the purview of various departments should be expedited. If there are any problems, the officials of the concerned departments should coordinate with NHAI and move forward.

He ordered the authorities to start the Hyderabad-Manneguda road works, which NHAI officials agreed to do.

Roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy asked Chaudhary to start the works immediately as land acquisition for the expansion of six lanes of Hyderabad-Vijayawada NH was already completed. NHAI officials said that they will start the work in two months.