The inordinate delay in implementing the State government’s recent decision to withdraw the land acquisition notification proposed for the Machilipatnam Industrial Corridor has dampened the hopes of nearly 5,000 farmers of Machilipatnam in getting access to crop loans, both for agriculture and aquaculture.
From August 2015, the notification has been affecting farmers, who have been struggling to deal with the two key obstacles — access to credit from bank and ban on registration and sale of the land.
Many families postponed the weddings of their children in the wake of ban on sale and mortgage of the notified land. Farmers have been trying to get access to crop loans from the banks in the notified land (14,620 acres) in the 21 villages since 2015 kharif season.
On June 27, the State government announced the withdrawal of the notification in case of 12,144 acres of private land. “Since August 2015, seven agriculture seasons have been completed. If the withdrawal of the notification is delayed further by a few weeks, the farmers won’t get the benefit of getting crop loan in this kha rif too,” S. Nagaraju of Pedda Karagraharam village said. In this village, 656 acres of land was notified.
When contacted, District Collector and Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Chairman B. Lakshmikantam refused to comment on the status and date of withdrawal of the notification. “The notification is likely to be withdrawn in a week,” hints MUDA Vice-Chairman P. Wilson Babu.