HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party, continuing its tirade against the State Government over the predicament of farmers and other landowners displaced by the proposed Outer Ring Road, took its `Jana Chaitanya Yatra' to Shamshabad and surrounding areas on Thursday.

Leading the yatra, the party's senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya accused the Government of failing to work out a proper rehabilitation package for those affected. In the HUDA Colony near Shamshabad, nearly 70 families would lose their houses while in Ralaguda, around 60 would lose their homes, he said. In Kotwalguda and adjacent villages, over 70 farmers would lose their fertile land.

"This is in spite of vacant Government lands situated next to these lands. The Government, instead of using its land has decided to snatch land from these poor people and in turn is offering them a pittance," he said.

"Further, a school was demolished in Ralaguda. So far, there has been no move to relocate the school or its students. Similarly, people's sentiments have been hurt badly in the way they have gone about demolishing temples and graveyards. No public representative has been consulted on the issue. The Government, after promising Rs. 4.25 lakhs as compensation is now saying it will give Rs. 12 lakhs. But where is Rs.12 lakh compared to the Rs. 14 crore for which the Government is selling the same land?" Mr. Dattatreya asked.

Not against project

Pointing out that the Bharatiya Janata Party was not against the project but against the way the rehabilitation package was being worked out, he said if the width was cut down from 500 feet to 250 feet, 80 per cent of the farmers would be happy and it would be easier for the Government to relocate the rest.

The party will take out a `Chalo Assembly' rally on August 25, involving `victims' of the ORR project, he added.

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