The farmers of Abbarajupalem village in Amaravati are up in arms against the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).
They have launched a hunger strike opposing its refusal to revoke land classification from dry (metta) to wet (jareebu) which they parted with under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) without “any prior intimation.” The condition of one of the farmers, Kancharla Balachandra Rao, 64, who is on hunger strike, is said to be “critical” on Sunday.
The farmers are agitated over the alleged indifferent attitude of the State government too.
They allege that none of the higher-ups had turned up though they had been on the hunger strike for the last six days.
The CRDA, the farmers said, had changed the classification of their lands from ‘jareebu’ (highly fertile) to metta (dryland) after three years of handing over the land to it. It paid the annuity of ₹50,000 per acre considering that their land fell under the jareebu category. The farmers were assured that they would get 1,450 square yards per acre in return.
Gummadi Venkateswara Rao, a farmer, said the CRDA had not taken their objections into consideration. The farmers were wondering how the land classification had changed overnight when the government had been paying the jareerbu annuity for three years.
The authorities even set aside the High Court order to look into the issue raised by the farmers. Thirteen farmers, who were at the receiving end due to the CRDA’s decision, were small and marginal holding one to one and a half acres.
“Mr. Balachandra Rao’s health is deteriorating. He has been on the hunger strike for the last four days. Yet, the authorities haven’t responded,” he said.
CPI(M) pledges support
Amaravati division CPI(M) secretary Ravi said the government had cheated the farmers and the party would stand by them until justice was done to them.
When contacted, CRDA Commissioner Ch. Sridhar said, “As per the directives, the Collector has appointed a multi-disciplinary expert team which will be submitting the report to him.” Under the LPS, the farmers gave their land as the government had promised 1,000 square yards of residential plot and 450 square yards of commercial plot for every acre of Jareebu land.
For dry land, 1,000 square yards of residential plot and 250 square yards of commercial plot was promised. In addition, the annuity was being paid to the farmers.
