KAKINADA: The three villages of Talluru, Kethanapalli and K.Kothagudem in Devipatnam Mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju, as also the Polavaram displaced families are in distress as flood relief has not been reached to them.
In particular, the people of Talluru under Kondamodalu Panchayat felt they have been ignored by the officials.
According to sources, the villages under Kondamodalu Panchayat have fought with the government and achieved their demands under the banner of the Girijana Sangham and they have been rehabilitated at the Neladenelapadu rehabilitation colony. But, Talluru village has not been branded under the Girijana Sangham.
The people of Talluru village requested the officials to construct a rehabilitation colony for them at M Ravilanka village. But the officials proposed Pedabhimpalli, which was not suitable for the people. Now, Talluru village has been inundated and nearly 117 families there climbed up to the nearby hillock and set up temporary tents.
“The officials have not given any flood alert for our village. We have voluntarily gone to the nearby hillock to save our lives. We appealed to the R&R officials of Polavaram Project to allot the R&R Colony at M Ravilanka village. But, the officials sanctioned Pedabhimpalli R&R Colony without conducting any Grama Sabha to elicit people’s opinion.
They have not given the R & R package to many of them. Only some people got it. They have not given land-to-land compensation. They are exerting pressure on them to evacuate the village and go to Pedabhimpalli R&R Colony,’’ said Talluri Veerabhadra Reddy, a village elder from the Kondareddy community.
He said once they vacate the village, the government would not take care of them.
Another inhabitant of the village, Mallireddy, said the people of Talluru never asked for Pedabhimpalli or signed any MoUs in this respect. Many of the representations had been submitted to the officials, in favour of M Ravilanka village.
He said that two days after reaching the hillock areas, the officials supplied essential commodities to them once and left things at that.
The people of the village now camping in the hillock area are facing hardships due to the non-supply of solar lamps, mosquito nets etc. During natural disasters, officials chose to deliberately ignore them, he said.
Senior advocate Podipireddy Achuta Desai, fighting for the rights of these people, said a great injustice was being done on them by the officials.
Meanwhile, the people of another two villages -- Kethanapalli and K.Kothagudem -- are also facing difficulties. They have also not been evacuated from their villages. These hamlets are said to be under the 45 contour levels.
But, Devipatnam in charge of Mandal tahsildar G Veerabhadra Rao told Deccan Chronicle that the revenue officials have alerted these villagers to evacuate from there due to the floods and come to rehabilitation centres. But, they did not heed their voice. However, essential commodities have been supplied to them. Due to the heavy floods, there is no way for boats to reach these places. So, many items of daily need could not be reached, he said.
“We shall reach the remaining assistance in one or two days,” he added.
