Collector Katamneni Bhaskar on Monday sought to dispel fears of those living near Polavaram project over eviction from their ancestral villages in Polavaram mandal in the district due to inundation. A group of tribal women from Devaragondi village located close to the site of the main dam facing displacement due to the project petitioned the Collector here seeking a better R&R package. They sought a special package for the women who crossed 18 and land to land compensation. They complained that the minor girls from the families of the project victims were being subjected to gender discrimination by the official machinery by depriving them of the rehabilitation package.
Mr. Bhaskar assured them that the district administration would not resort to eviction of the project victims from their villages by employing coercive methods. He stated that the victims would be shifted to the new R&R colonies only after implementation of the R&R package to their satisfaction. The Collector said rehabilitation of the project victims was as much important as the project itself to the government and that the former’s welfare would not be ignored at any cost. The government would take forward the execution of project along with the relocation and rehabilitation of its victims simultaneously, he asserted.
