Villagers send back officials

Tension prevailed at Vemulaghat on Wednesday when officials arrived here to identify borders for the proposed Mallannasagar reservoir. However, opposing it strongly, the villagers sent them back.

Some officials accompanied by Mandal Revenue Officer Deshya Naik arrived at the village in the afternoon and erected two border pillars for Mallannasagar bund. Coming to know of this, the villagers entered into an heated argument with the officials stating that they have not given consent to sell their land under GO 123, nor was the land acquired so far under the Land Acquisition Act- 2013.

The Mandal Revenue Officer tried to pacify the villagers by saying that if their land was acquired under the LA Act, they would get the compensation only after two years whereas if the same was acquired under the GO, they would get the compensation money first and the government would later acquire land.

Not convinced

But villagers were far from convinced by his argument.

“The case is pending with the court. About 470 farmers from the village have sought compensation under the LA Act. If the government wants to acquire our land, let the officials issue a notification under the Act as per the direction of the court and go ahead with the acquisition. We are ready to accept whatever compensation that comes under the Act,” said Hayat Uddin, a resident of Vemulaghat.