Karunakar Reddy, Mahipal Reddy, Sanchu Srinivas and Naveen Kumar reside in Hyderabad, but they have been visiting Erravalli village frequently for the past one month or so. All these city dwellers, with good jobs and attractive salary, are a worried lot now.
Reason—all of them own land in the village which is likely to be submerged with the construction of the proposed Mallannasagar project, under the larger Kaleswaram project. They shuttle between Hyderabad and Etigaddakishtapur to discuss with fellow villagers ways to stall submergence of their precious land.
“How can we remain silent in the city and leave our village for its watery fate? What should we tell if someone asks about our village?” asked Mahipal Reddy.
He is one among the few along with Prashanth Reddy of Etigaddaksihtapur, who regularly updates postings in WhatsApp on what has been happening in the 14 villages that come under Mallannasagar project area.
It was informed that about half-a-dozen educated and well-placed youngsters who migrated to cities returned to their villages to fight for the cause and extend support to their fellow villagers.
They also keep meeting leaders of various political parties, soliciting their support to stall the submergence of their villages.
So far, CPI(M) State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram, TTDP president A. Revanth Reddy, Congress leaders C. Damodar Rajanarasimha, V. Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, J. Geeta Reddy, BJP leaders N. Ramachandar Rao, M. Raghunandan Rao, and Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman M. Kodandaram have visited the villages extending their support to the cause.
These youth also make good use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in their campaign against the proposed construction of Mallanna Sagar project.
he postings on WhatsApp continues right from morning till midnight.
“We want to let the world know what has been happening to our villages and what will be our fate,” said Mr. Prashant.
