Taking advantage of the coronavirus lockdown in force, the district authorities have dismantled all the houses in Kotchhaguttapally village in Chinnakodur mandal on late Sunday night.
According to the villagers, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. the houses were dismantled, including of those who have approached the High Court seeking compensation as per Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act – 2013 (LA Act- 2013).
This is the only village in Siddipet district getting submerged under Annapurna reservoir and is located on the borders of Siddipet and Sircilla districts. “The houses of those who gave consent were already dismantled a few days back and we have no objection to that. But last night when we were ready to go to sleep, all of a sudden heavy machines entered our area and demolished our houses. Many were unable to even salvage their belongings,” said T. Praveen, one of the villagers who had approached the court for justice.
“Since yesterday morning the officials camped here and we had almost resigned ourselves to the situation, stating that we will take compensation issued by the government. However, asking us to collect cheques on Monday morning they dismantled the houses without giving us the required time to vacate. The water reached the nearby houses,” K. Ramanji, another oustee from the village told The Hindu. He said that they were not yet given cheques so far. He said that their luggage or whatever can be picked up was thrown into a transport vehicle and they were sent to the double bedroom house colony constructed at Lingareddypally on Siddipet outskirts.
Godavari water from Kaleswaram through Midmanair would reach here and from here, it would flow to Ranganaiksagar, which is getting ready for inauguration. “How can officials force us to vacate our village in the midnight when lockdown is in force? Is lockdown not applicable to the officials forcing us to leave the village?” asked another villager.
The officials at mandal level or division level did not respond when contacted.
