Finally, land acquisition for Gouravelli project located in Akkannapet mandal of Siddipet district is nearing completion. Majority of farmers have sold their land to the government at a consent price of ₹15 lakh per acre, the highest price officially offered, under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
Land acquisition for the project started as early as 2008 during the tenure of the late AP Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. In the first phase, as much as 1,923.12 acres was acquired by the government for construction of 1.4 tmc ft capacity Gouravelli reservoir, as part of Jala Yagnam in 2008-09. However, like all other irrigation projects, this one also faced hurdles and was set aside.
As part of redesigning of projects by the TRS government after it came to power in 2014, the project capacity was increased to 8.2 tmc ft. Hence, an additional land of 1,993.87 acres was required by the government and a notification was issued in this regard.
But, farmers from about 272 acres did not want to sell their land to the government demanding higher compensation. And they even approached the High Court. On several occasions, they had stopped the works and filed complaints with officials alleging that works were progressing without their consent.
Before jumping into politics, former Collector of Siddipet and present MLC P. Venkatrami Reddy addressed the issue by convincing farmers to sell their land and made them agree for a price of ₹15 lakh per acre. He had even promised ₹6 lakh for those who have crossed the age of 18 years.
On Saturday, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Husnabad presented a list of those who crossed the prescribed age limit and pasted a copy in the panchayat limits.
“Here is the list of 324 people who have crossed the age of 18 years between 01-01-2015 and 15-10-2021 at Gudatipally, Tenugupally and Somaji Tanda. The list is being pasted at the panchayat office. If anyone eligible finds his name missing, he can approach the mandal revenue officer at Akkannapet and submit a representation,” read the notice by the RDO.
“Except around 100 acres, the entire land acquisition process is complete. Officials have also issued a list of those who are above 18 years. However, regarding this, no GO has been issued. MLA V. Satish Kumar has promised double bedroom houses also, but we cannot trust anyone till we get them,” Sarpanch Baddam Raji Reddy said.
