Even as Irrigation Department has started releasing water into the Mid Manair Reservoir from the SRSP Flood Flow Canal residents of villages that would be submerged are refusing to leave their homes as they want to celebrate Bathukamma and Dasara and demand that proper compensation be paid to all affected persons.
The Irrigation Department has rebuilt the MMR after the earth dam breach last year to enable it to store at least 10 tmcft of water against its capacity of 26 tmcft. The authorities started release of 4,000 cusecs of water into the MMR to store at least 4 tmcft in the project to meet the drinking water requirement under the Mission Bhagiratha.
The District Administration for the last two days has been sounding a high alert and also the ‘tom tom’ in the villages asking the villagers to relocate to the relief and rehabilitation colonies. The oustees said the R&R colonies did not have proper infrastructure.
R Venkat Rao, secretary of District Land Oustees Association and a resident of Chinthalthana, which would be submerged under the MMR project, questioned the timing of release of waters, especially when the residents were getting ready to celebrate Bathukamma and Dasara.
The storage of four tmcs of water is not a problem for the land oustees of the MMR as the water would reach only the shores of the Manair river and touch only villages of Kodurupaka, Cheerlavancha and Chinthalthana. It would not pose any danger for the villagers, he maintained.
He appealed to the state government not to force the land oustees from their villages till the completion of the Dasara festivities on humanitarian grounds as this would be their last festival in the villages. He also sought complete rehabilitation of all the land oustees as majority of the villagers have not received complete payments.
