The public hearing on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Kaleswaram project would be held at Siddipet on Saturday. This is the first time the land oustees would get a chance to express their objections and present their demands in a place outside their native places.
The authorities of both Sangareddy and Medak districts were able to conduct EIA on Kaleswaram canals on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Except one or two voices at both the places, those who participated in the public hearing welcomed it stating that the hearing would change the fate of their area for better. They said that the places would become rice - crop intensive, and the migration to towns could be contained, along with lowering the chances of suicide among farmers. Land oustee at both the public hearings did not express their voices, much to the govt.’s respite. The low level of participation could be partly due to the location of the hearing.So far, leaders from only Congress and CPI (M) have demanded compensation under LA Act- 2013.
In Siddipet, four reservoirs – Anantagiri (3.5 tmcft), Ranganaiksagar (3 tmcft), Mallannasagar (51 tmcft) and Kondapohamma (15 tmcft) – are coming up with a total capacity of 72.5 tmcft which would naturally submerge large chunks of land to the tune of thousands of acres. Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao and Collector P. Venaktaram Reddy were able to convince farmers of several villagers to sell their land to the government under GO 123 in the initial stages for most of the projects except parts of Vemulaghat and Etigaddakishtapur under Mallannasagar and parts of Bailampur, Mamidyal and Thanedarpally under Kondapochamma. Some of the farmers from these villages have knocked the doors of High Court seeking implementation of LA Act -2013, and the court has directed the govt. to do the needful.
The question that would be unfolded on Saturday would be whether these oustees will be able to raise their voices or whetherthey would be outnumbered by the beneficiaries.