Narayanpur Land Acquisition Row Escalates Over Call to Acquire Entire Village

Karimnagar:The land acquisition process for the Narayanpur reservoir has triggered a dispute, with villagers launching a relay hunger strike demanding that the government acquire the entire village and pay compensation.

The government had decided to acquire 34 houses in the village to strengthen the reservoir bunds, while around 150 houses are located there. Residents whose houses are not included in the acquisition have been demanding that the entire village be acquired.

The issue was raised during a public hearing held in the village on July 15. However, revenue officials visited the village on July 25 to survey the 34 houses proposed for acquisition. Villagers opposed to the survey entered into an argument with the officials and stalled the exercise.

Those whose houses are proposed for acquisition subsequently confronted the protesters, leading to a clash between the two groups. Both sides lodged complaints with Gangadhara police.

The dispute took another turn after Dikonda Madhu, husband of Narayanpur sarpanch Babalaxmi, attempted suicide following an altercation with villagers, according to police. The incident followed pressure from villagers on July 5 to pass a gram panchayat resolution supporting acquisition of all houses in the village.

Based on a complaint by the sarpanch, police registered an SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act case against 13 persons. Twelve of them were reportedly absconding.

The villagers launched a relay hunger strike on Sunday to press the government to acquire the entire village. They would continue the agitation until their demand was met.

The half-TMC-capacity balancing reservoir supplies water to around 70,000 acres in the Choppadandi and Vemulawada constituencies. It receives Yellampalli water through the Nandi pump house and supplies it to agricultural lands up to Fazulnagar near Vemulawada.

Though the reservoir project has been completed, works on the left and right canals and other components are pending. The state government sanctioned `20 crore two days ago for completing the pending works.

Former MLA and BRS Choppadandi constituency in-charge Sunke Ravishankar alleged that sitting MLA Medipally Satyam had promised before and after the elections to acquire the entire village but had failed to fulfil the assurance even after three years. He alleged that villagers had instead been booked in cases and demanded acquisition of the entire village.

Responding to the demand, MLA Satyam said he was also in favour of acquiring the entire village and had raised the issue in the Assembly, but the applicable norms were different.