The alleged land scam at Mudapaka has snowballed into a major controversy with the Opposition parties alleging that the ruling Telugu Desam leaders were hand-in glove with the land grabbers.
A winding ‘kutcha road’ leads to the cashew plantation, raised by villagers abutting the hills at Mudapaka. The villagers claim the road was laid overnight by a realtor, who allegedly has the backing of the ruling TDP, to deprive them of their lands.
“We have one acre land each. We have our pattas and did not sign any papers but we are being pressurised to sell our lands,” said Konda Ramulamma and two other women.
“We haven’t signed any papers and will not part with our land. The cashew trees on our land were axed overnight. The middleman, who wants to snatch our lands, had employed five earth movers and felled the trees and laid the kutcha road. Our village is about 2 km away from this place,” alleged Saripalli Varalakshmi.
Some of the farmers said their documents were taken away by the middlemen. Some were paid ₹1 lakh, while others alleged that the middlemen cornered ₹50,000 and gave them only the balance amount, they said.
Visakhapatnam North MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju, who is also the BJP Floor Leader in Assembly, was the first to raise the issue in the House. He alleged that the middlemen, who had political influence, had submitted the land documents at the VUDA office, knowing that LPS was under way at Mudapaka, though no official announcement was made. A ‘dandora’ (announcement through beating of drums) should be done in the villages concerned, followed by a notification in the media and holding of a gram sabha by the RDO. The due process was not followed in the case of Mudapaka.
“We will bring the issue to the notice of the Chief Minister and do justice to farmers. A thorough probe is required to bring out the truth in the alleged scam,” the MLA told The Hindu , when contacted on Tuesday. “ The interests of innocent farmers should be protected. The farmers told me that they were ready to give to their land directly to the government under LPS, if they were given adequate compensation but were against giving it to middlemen,” he said.
“There is no proposal for LPS at Mudapaka from the government side. The farmers allege that their D form pattas were snatched away by middlemen and the issue would be investigated,” Joint Collector G. Srijana told The Hindu .
