The extra high voltage (EHV) 765 kV transmission lines from Chhattisgarh to Kandukur in Ranga Reddy district passing through this village are a curse for the poor farmers whose lands it passes over.
For instance 35-year-old Bantu Kishtaiah had to cancel his sister’s wedding after the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited decided to park three legs of of a 765kV transmission cut point tower in his farm.
Deal cancelled
Mr. Kishtaiah had entered into an agreement to sell his land to a third party in the beginning of the year to raise funds for his sister’s wedding. He also took an advance of ₹50,000 from the prospective buyer.
In January he, along with other villagers, got a notification from PGCIL about the transmission tower. The buyer backed out forcing Mr. Kishtaiah to return the advance amount. The marriage had to be cancelled.
The cut point tower for a 765 kV transmission line takes requires more area compared to other types of transmission towers.
On March 22nd, Mr. Kishtaiah received ₹ 42,481 into his account.
He did not get any compensation after that. Even after the erection of HT Transmission lines was completed and it was charged, the compensation process was not complete. The farmer has no information whether or not he would get any more amount as compensation or how the valuation was done as there is no indication of that either from the revenue officials or from PGCIL.
Another farmer from the village Begari Lakshmi has a similar tale to tell. She had received notice indicating that two legs of the tower would stand in her field and the number was increased to three at the time of execution. So far she received compensation in two phases — ₹40,089 on March 22nd and ₹ 44,010 on May 23rd. About one acre of cotton crop was damaged during the erection of transmission lines but no amount was paid towards crop damage so far, according to Ms. Lakshmi.
Crop damage
“Crop damage was registered only for those farmers who stalled the work and for others crop damage details were not noted. Hence we do not know how they are assessing the crop loss,” said another villager S. Padma Reddy.
The villagers rejected to accept the compensation being offered by the agency that was laying the EHV transmission lines — Maheswaram Transmission Limited (MTL). “We do not know how the loss was assessed and whether we are being paid right compensation. Hence we rejecting it,” the villagers told The Hindu .
