Tension prevailed near the residence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday morning after about 50 residents of Ibrahimpatnam village threatened to commit suicide demanding sanction of compensation in the highway (NH 30) expansion project.
The protesters, mostly women, representing over 135 families who gave away their land and houses for the highway expansion in 2015, carried kerosene in bottles and threatened to commit suicide if they are not allowed to meet the Chief Minister.
The villagers squatted on the Karakatta Road at Undavalli and alleged that their houses on either side of Tiruvuru road near the A Colony of Ibrahimpatnam were given to the government and Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao promised them house site, ₹1.5 lakh cash and bank loan as compensation.
The protesters raised slogans demanding that the Chief Minister accept their representation and take necessary action. “We lived there for more than 40 years and vacated the area to pave the way for road expansion. For the last three years we have been struggling to pay house rents and run our homes,” said a protester.
They demanded immediate sanction of the compensation and houses. Police later detained the protesters and released them in the city. The villagers staged protests at the Sub-collector’s office later.
Alla denies hand
Meanwhile, the incident raised issue of security lapse at the CM’s residence whose premises is manned by special security forces round the clock.
Responding to allegations of helping the protesters reach the CM’s residence, local YSRCP MLA A. Ramakrishna Reddy said that he was unaware of the incident and is currently in Hyderabad.
