Farmers have always been at the receiving end despite repeated efforts made by various sections. This was proved once again in the case of farmers who lost their lands under high tension (HT) power supply lines.
Several farmers of Sangareddy and Medak districts in Telangana lost their lands under two high tension transmission lines – 400 KV and 765 KV lines — laid by Maheswaram Transmission Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India respectively.
The district Collectors of both Sangareddy and Medak have issued guidelines to pay compensation after farmers protested several times against the delay in paying it. The guidelines were issued based on the orders issued by the Collector of Ranga Reddy.
Details sought
Despite all this, farmers were not paid proper compensation despite repeated appeals. Though the mandal revenue officials were directed to submit details farmer-wise on how much compensation needs to be paid, how much was paid and how much is the balance amount, the authorities failed to submit the details and it was confirmed by Sangareddy Revenue Divisional Officer Mr. Srinivas Reddy. The officials are yet to verify the difference of payment for each farmer.
An order issued by Collector on April 20, 2017, states that compensation for land facing the highway up to 0.5 kilometres/ nearer to the housing layouts/ industrial areas, commercially developed areas under category I should be ₹3.5 lakh per tower and under category II (the area of damage up to 350 square yards in both categories) should be ₹4.5 lakh per tower.
For interior areas, the compensation should be ₹2.45 lakh per tower under category I and ₹3.15 lakh per tower under category II.
Wide variation
Some officials even admitted that there is a lot of variation between the rightful amount the farmers were entitled and the amount they were paid. It was alleged that at some places, the survey was not conducted in the presence of farmers. At Julkal village, the survey has not been conducted so far as officials were obstructed by farmers. “The companies are not coming forward to pay compensation. We will be shortly writing to the government to examine the issue,” said a revenue officer.