Taking a cue from the protest by land oustees against Mallannasagar and Thotapally reservoir, the oustees under Kondapochamma reservoir have been gearing up to put up a fight against the project. As part of it, they approached the concerned officials on Friday seeking information about the project under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
They sought information on the phases of the project, the extent of land to be acquired for the purpose, including patta land, and the compensation being offered by the government to farmers and the landless poor.
“We have asked the officials to furnish the details and copies of the resolutions passed by the respective panchayats to sell the land to the government, the amount of water to be stored in the reservoir and the water source,” said Srinivas, a farmer from Mamidyal village, who met the officials along with other farmers at Gajwel.
However, the officials asked the farmers to visit them again on Saturday, as they reached there after the office hours.
The land oustees have decided to question the government on issuing the notification under Section 40 of the LA Act-2013 under which the government acquires land for emergency purposes. “There is no emergency to acquire land for Kondapochamma reservoir, but the notification was issued under that section on which the court had given a stay order. The government has not issued any fresh notification while it cannot acquire land under Section 40. Besides, notices were not issued individually to farmers regarding land acquisition. We want to clarify these issues with the government,” said another farmer.
