Nizamabad: Fifteen years after the Naxalite movement ended, people in north Telangana districts have witnessed huge police forces in their villages for last couple of days. Hundreds of policemen were deployed villages in undivided Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts on Sunday to quell the agitation of farmers demanding release of water from the Sriramsagar project.
Nizamabad police commissioner Kartikeya, Siddipet commissioner D. Joel Davis, Kamareddy superintendent of police N. Swetha and Nirmal SP Sashidhar Raju camped in Armoor division and supervising the security arrangements.
Farmers belonging to 24 villages in Nizamabad and Jagitial districts are demanding release of water from SRSP to save their standing crops. But the state government, citing drinking water needs, refused to release water and this has led to a series of agitations.
The farmers, along with their family members, have decided to besiege the Sriramsagar project and carry out agitations in their villages in protest against the decision of the government.
Police promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 in the villages and also deployed heavy forces in various villages in Mendora, Balkonda, Yergatla, Morthad and Kammarpally mandals. Due to the presence of armed police forces, few farmers have participated in the agitations.
Meanwhile, a group of farmers in Uploor village in Kammarpally mandal on Sunday tried to burn the effigy of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and take out a protest rally in the village.
Noticing it, the police dispersed the gathered farmers and permitted less than 15 members to submit a memorandum to the presiding deity in Sri Bala Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in Uploor village.
Interestingly, the farmers submitted the memorandum to God and prayed to him to change the mindset of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in favor of farmers. Speaking to newsmen, the famers said that there was no option for them to express their woes than submitting the memorandum to God. Both elected representatives and officials turned mere spectators for the release of water from SRSP, they lamented.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Armoor Assistant Commissioner of Police K Shiva Kumar said that situation was under control in the police division. There was no untoward incident under the command area of SRSP, he said. Following the promulgation of prohibitory orders, the tense situation would come to normalcy, he added. The ACP warned that if anyone carried out into agitations by violating prohibitory orders, he would face the criminal charges.
Release water or face more stir, says Congress
Congress leaders in Nizamabad on Sunday warned the TRS government of consequences if it failed to release water from Sriramsagar and Singur projects. They said the farmers in the district were worried about the survival of their standing crops.
TPCC spokesperson B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, secretary N. Ratnakar, CCC president Kesha Venu and district Wakf board's former chairman Javed said this at a media interaction held at Congress Bhavan in Nizamabad on Sunday.
They said the Congress government released water from SRSP to save crops during Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy regime. The TRS is resorting to undemocratic policies to suppress the protests of farmers. Around 0.4 tmc water is enough to save the standing crops, they said.
The leaders said TRS MPs and MLAs would be held responsible for the unrest. They said the MLAs were not explaining the ground reality in the district to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and irrigation minister T. Harish Rao. The Congress will not tolerate injustice to the farmers, they said.
