To ensure the welfare of families displaced by various irrigation, mining and developmental projects, the State government has been taking all measures. Besides giving them due compensation as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, it is also leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the displaced families settle in new locations comfortably.
The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, being taken up by the State government to irrigate 12.3 lakh acres, envisages the construction of Narlapur Anjanagiri, Yedula Veeranjaneya, Vattem Venkatadri, Kurumurthyraya Karivena and Uddandapur reservoirs, and works are nearing completion. The government is providing one of the best Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) packages for the displaced.
For instance, Battupalli, Ekulagattu, Borangattu and Chinthagattu thandas in Bhootpur mandal of erstwhile Mahabubnagar district are getting submerged under the Kurumurthyraya Karivena reservoir. The government has not only spent Rs 35.45 crore to provide compensation to about 360 oustees for sacrificing their properties as per the law but also gave an additional compensation of Rs 5 lakh each towards construction of new double bedroom houses.
Officials have facilitated these villagers to purchase house plots in a new layout on the Mahabubnagar-Nagarkurnool road and shift to the colony which resembles a gated-community.
Devarakadra MLA Ala Venkateshwar Reddy not only ensured that the villagers settled down comfortably in their new homes but also helped their children get admission into government residential schools nearby.
Similarly, about 15 villages got submerged under the Sri Rajarajeshwara reservoir (Mid-Manair project) constructed at Manwada in Boinpalli mandal of Rajanna-Sircilla district. Besides giving the prescribed compensation, the State government is constructing modern R&R colonies for the oustees adjacent to Karimnagar highway and Kamareddy road. The government spent more than Rs 1,284.44 crore for rehabilitation and resettlement of about 10,683 displaced families under the project apart from spending another Rs 202.71 crore for constructing modern colonies with all basic infrastructure, including CC roads, underground drainage system, tap connections, LED streetlights, community halls, gram panchayat buildings, primary healthcare centres, Anganwadi centres, primary schools, places of worship and even shopping complexes.
The strict implementation of the R&R Act in the State is such that not only the government but also the public undertakings like Singareni Collieries Company Limited is duly compensating the displaced families and facilitating their relocation to the newly built R&R colonies. Following the expansion of OCP-2 mine in the Singareni RG-3 area of Ramagundam, about 578 families in Rachapalli, Adyala, Akkepalli and Siddapalli of Manthani mandal lost their properties. The company compensated them by duly providing Rs 7.61 lakh and a 240-sq.yard house site for each displaced family at Bittupalli near Manthani town which is being developed into one of the largest modern R&R colonies developed by Singareni. Necessary infrastructure is being developed at Rs 60 crore in the colony spread over 78 acres.
