Guntur: The last date for submitting objections against the proposed agriculture protection zone in the Amaravati final perspective master plan ended on Tuesday. As many as 7,500 objections were filed by the public with CRDA against the agriculture zones. The public in the proposed agriculture zones are lamenting about fall in land prices, stopping of land sales and purchase activities with the proposed zones.
The farmers led by AP Rythu Sangham staged a protest in front of the CRDA office on Tuesday demanding the cancellation of agriculture protection zones. APRS state general secretary V. Subba Rao alleged that there are no restrictions about usage of lands for foreign companies, multinationals and corporates. He alleged that the government is giving lands for 99 years lease to foreign companies of Singapore, China, Japan, England and other countries.
He alleged that the Telugu Dessam government issued GO. 110 to give valuable lands on lease to foreign companies. He suspected that to increase the land value in Amaravati capital region villages, the TD government proposed agriculture protection zones, which are totally becoming disastrous to the public and farmers of the Krishna and Guntur districts. He demanded cancellation of proposed agriculture protection zones.
APRS district secretary Y. Radhakrishna alleged that the CRDA has to conduct awareness meetings about the agriculture protection zones in the villages of 36 mandals of Guntur and Krishna districts but it was absent. He alleged that to promote the lands of Amaravati the government proposed the zones and warned about starting of agitation if the TD government tries to continue the zones.
Farmers K. Amaranath and others alleged that the land prices drastically fall from Rs 80 lakh per acre worth fertile farmland to Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh according to the area. Recalling the statement of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu about benefiting the farmers by giving good price for their lands, they alleged that the CM has now changed and helping the foreign countries and multinati-onal companies by decrea-sing their land value through agriculture protection zones. Saying that there is no need for extending the last date for filing objections, they de-manded good price by cancelling the agri zones.
