The oustees of Ghanapur village in Toguta mandal of Siddipet district have stalled the ongoing work of Mallannasagar. They demand that complete payments must be released to them before the work starts.
A large number of villagers came to the worksite and staged a protest alleging that the promises made to them were not fulfilled by officials.
“Earlier, officials promised to clear pending payments before January 16. Keeping the promise in mind, we allowed the work to continue. But there was no response from officials despite repeated appeals. This forced us to stall work. When payments were cleared for oustees of other villages, why not for farmers from our village?” asked the angry villagers, stalling work.
On coming to know of this, the representatives of the construction company and police rushed to the spot and held discussions with the agitators. The company representatives told the agitators that the delay was because the Collector was shifted recently and that the payments will be made shortly.
Meanwhile, the company officials promised to resume work only after the government clears the pending payment and went back with the heavy machinery. It was then that the villagers returned home.
“The officials and public representatives made a promise of paying ₹13 lakh per acre, but only a part of it was cleared. We approached officials several times for the remaining amount but there was no response, thus forcing us to stop work. Payment has to be cleared for 78 acres pertaining to about 90 farmers,” said a villager on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Touguta sub-inspector Karunakar Reddy, who spoke with farmers, said that the construction company representatives promised not to take up work till the pending payments are cleared and that farmers need not worry.
