The members of Andhra Pradesh Adivasi Joint Action Committee has urged Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda to take up the issue of building the proposed NH 516 E, that connects Rajamahendravaram to Vizianagaram, cutting across vast tracts of tribal land notified under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
The members of the JAC led by Rama Rao Dora, district convenor, met the Union Minister at Chintapalli, during the celebration of 100 years of Rampa Rebellion, in Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Monday.
They explained that the proposed NH runs through tribal mandals that are notified under the Fifth Schedule such as Koyyuru, Chintapalli, Lambasingi, Paderu and Araku.
“We have no objection to the NH, but we are opposing its new bypass roads, as they are cutting across greenfields and hills, where the tribals have been practising podu culture since ages, and perennial hill streams and water bodies,” he said.
‘Deviation from plan’
He explained that there is a deviation from the original plan and said that it would be good if the plan sticks to the Roads and Buildings road spaces.
“Instead of sticking to R&B road spaces, the new proposal is posing a threat to the environment and tribal culture. And it must undergo processes such as environment impact assessment and social impact assessment, as it would be affecting the livelihood of thousands of adivasis,” he said.
The JAC members urged the Union Minister to take up the matter with the authorities concerned and get the proposal for bypass roads annulled.
‘Cancel hydroelectric project’
The JAC members also asked the Union Minister to intervene and cancel the proposed off-river pumped storage hydroelectric project, which is coming up at Koyyurru and Chintapalli mandals of ASR district.
The project is allocated to private players to generate 1,000 mw of hydel power and will involve the diversion of thousands of acres of pristine forest land.
The JAC members pointed out that the project which is being called as Yerravaram project has been conceived in violation of the provisions under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, Forest Rights Act and the Samata Judgment.
The JAC members also informed the Union Minister that the authorities concerned had not taken prior consent of the Gram Sabhas and neither had consulted the Tribal Advisory Committee, as mandated in the PESA Act.
They said that two more such projects are likely to come up at Kurukutti in Salur mandal and Karrivalasa in Pachipenta mandal.
