Khammam: Completing the land acquisition would become a problem for the proposed Polavaram Construction Company as the people of the seven transferred mandals had great expectations with the Centre taking up project construction responsibility.
Almost all of the 1.72 lakh people who will be displaced due to the Polavaram project will be given an equal extant of irrigated land. This improved package offers land-for-land compensation to the tribals, with the land being provided as close to the original area as possible. Compensation will also be given to the landless. However, there are a number of drawbacks in the rehabilitation plan, the main one being that many people in the area do not have title deeds for their land and therefore will not be entitled to receive any compensation.
Up to August 2012, AP had spent Rs 4,344 crore and had acquired 27,674 hectares. No payment was made since the last 10 months. The compensation for khasa lands (title deeds given during Nizam’s rule) and assigned lands have not been given so far. According one estimate, the government has to pay compensation for another 11,000 hectares in submerged villages and for digging canals. Some 500 people have approached the court regarding rejection of compensation due to lack of documents.
