With tension continuing, additional police forces were deployed in Hiramandalam in the district on Thursday to bring the situation under control at the Vamsadhara project site, where the project-displaced clashed with the police on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Police C.M. Trivikram Varma visited several villages, including Padali that witnessed the clashes, to monitor the situation in the sensitive areas.
Mr. Varma directed senior police officials not to use excessive force as the issue was sensitive, and the villagers needed to be convinced that the government was adopting a sympathetic view towards their grievances.
Collector K. Dhanunjaya Reddy and Joint Collector K.N.V. Chakradharbabu directed the revenue officials to provide basic amenities in the newly constructed colonies for the project displaced families.
Protest staged
Meanwhile, the Left parties and the YSR Congress Party criticised the district administration for deploying heavy police forces in the villages. Besides seeking an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the clashes, the parties demanded that the government consider payment of compensation to the displaced as per the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, as the officials had failed to pay compensation to them in full and settle their accounts in the last one decade.
Activists of the Left parties staged a protest separately decrying the police action on the project-displaced at the Vamsadhara site.
CITU State vice- president D. Govinda Rao and CPI leader J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy participated. They had a heated argument with the police when they were prevented from taking out a rally in Srikakulam.
YSRCP district president Reddi Shanti also condemned the police action against the protesters, particularly women, at Hiramandalam.