Gajwel ryots say assigned lands being taken as TRS men sit pretty on pattas

SIDDIPET: Land acquisition in Mutrajpalli and Lingarajpet in Gajwel Assembly constituency has all the trappings of becoming a major controversy with officials allegedly concentrating on the assigned lands of small farmers while sparing lands owned by influential TRS leaders. The land acquisition is for rehabilitation of the oustees of eight villages which would be submerged under Mallanna Sagar Project. Farmers are crying foul that all their lands are being taken over by the government, leaving them with no means for a livelihood. They contend that officials are not even looking at the land in two villages which are owned by TRS leaders. 

Says Devulapalli Anjaneyulu and Kishan of Mutrajpalli: “Only the lands of farmers who depend entirely on agriculture are being acquired. Former Zilla Parishad chairman Manikonda Laxmikanta Rao and his relatives have lands in the village but the authorities did not acquire even a cent from them.”

Farmers complain that the authorities are trying to take all patta lands they have been cultivating for generations, saying they are assigned lands.  When Gajwel RDO M Vijender Reddy, Tahsildar Mohammad Anwar and other officials went to the village on Monday as part of land acquisition, they were told that lands would not be given. 

Anjaneyulu said that lands not suitable for agriculture are available in most parts of Siddipet district and those could be used for creating rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) colonies. He said the rules lay down that a social impact assessment should be conducted before land acquisition begins but the authorities have not taken up any such survey so far. When asked about lands of TRS leaders being left touched, officials say that there are cases pending in courts over the ownership of the lands in question. 

Farmers say the latest official notification states that about 50 farmers own these lands and these families would lose their livelihood.While the Gajwel RDO could not be contacted, Tahsildar Mohammad Anwar, however, explained that a notification has been issued for the acquisition of a total of 102 acres in Lingarajpeta village along with Mutrajpalli and dismissed as baseless the allegations of acquiring land only from small farmers.