It was a ‘chapta’ under the neem tree in the centre of the village. On May 14, 2016, this was the epicentre for agitation demanding implementation of Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act – 2013 (LA Act – 2013).
On that day, several CPI (M) leaders led by party senior and All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) vice-president Sarampally Malla Reddy visited the village and interacted with the oustees. He had informed them how the LA Act – 2013 benefit them more than what the payment made under GO 123, the then process of land purchase from farmers.
Diagonally opposite to that is an old structure, Buruju, a witness to the ongoing transformation of the village. A few kilometres away is Etigaddakishtapur in Toguta mandal, where on the same day, as many as 13 women fell unconscious due to high blood pressure when their land were acquired by the government for the proposed Mallannasagar project, which would spread across both Kondapaka and Toguta mandals.
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These two platforms located in these two villages had witnessed several agitations, relay hunger strikes for several days and heated speeches by leaders from various political parties. At Etigaddakishtapur, the agitation continued for more than two months and leaders like Revanth Reddy and Damodar Rajanarasimha visited the village.
Now, these two platforms wear a deserted look.
At Erravalli, majority of the oustees had already left the village with only 20 to 30 people residing now, still awaiting compensation.
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At Etigaddakishtapur, the elderly and the unemployed youth are discussing about their uncertain future.
“This village will get submerged under Mallannasagar and everyone knows that. Despite that, the platform here was constructed for reasons best known to them,” commented a villager on condition of anonymity, adding that fund misuse might have taken place.