Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday slammed the State government accusing it of harassing a section of the evacuees under the Gandikota project in Kadapa district by not giving them Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package.
Mr. Naidu asked the government to explain how the displaced families would vacate their villages without getting the R&R and One-Time Settlement (OTS) packages. As many as 2,369 families were yet to be given the R&R package at Tallapodduru village but they were being asked to evacuate, he said.
In a series of tweets, the TDP chief said that it would be difficult for the evacuees to find a new shelter if they were not given suitable compensation and resettlement package. The government acted in a partisan manner and gave the package to only to 500 families while discriminating against the rest of the families in the village, he alleged.
Mr. Naidu deplored that lots of problems were cropping up in the implementation of projects because of lack of foresight and strategic planning on the part of the government. Better results can be achieved only when timely action was taken in all parameters. Owing to lack of responsible action, the Gandikota project evacuees were now facing hardship and misery, he said.
Submersion threat
The TDP chief said: “The evacuees cannot go anywhere at this juncture in view of the COVID-19 threat while there is submersion threat from the project backwaters.” Though there were floods in the rivers, no efforts were made to store 26 TMC water in the Gandikota reservoir. On the other hand, even packages were not given to settle the issue with the evacuees. Eventually, the people of AP were paying a heavy price for omissions committed by the ruling YSRCP, he alleged.
