Disputing claims that there was no coercion in the implementation of Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in Amaravati, former IAS officer and social activist E.A.S. Sarma said that when the truth came out heads would roll in the political and administrative circles.
The A.P.-Capital Region Development Authority (AP-CRDA) has so far given very little to the beneficiaries of LPS, who thought they got a good package in the form of developed plots and monetary compensation for the fertile lands given by them, he alleged.
The compensation for surrendering right to ownership of land was far less than what the future development would fetch for them.
New LA Act
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Sarma said not all farmers had given their lands by own volition, but the government had for obvious reasons maintained that the LPS was optional.
Lands allotted to industries and other institutions were pledged with banks for securing loans, which amounted to the government reneging on its commitment not to do business with the lands.
Vast tracts of multi-cropped lands were pooled without pondering over the likely impact of wiping out of those lush green agricultural lands on the environment and food security.
The National Green Tribunal, with which he had filed a petition seeking revocation of the environmental clearance given to the capital city project by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, was likely to give its final judgement by the end of March, Mr. Sarma said, and exuded confidence that his stand would be vindicated.
Mr. Sarma said he would take to legal recourse if the State government went ahead with the proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.
Under the new legislation, public consent and social impact assessment clauses were sought to be done away with.
Former Union Minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao said the State government should explain the need to acquire thousands of acres for each one of the multiple Greenfield projects conceived by it.
