The villagers of Bailampur, who have stalled the works of Kondapochammma for the past two weeks, have sent back the officials, unhappy with the compensation being offered by the government for their houses. They said the amount being offered was insufficient even to meet the expenditure that was paid to the mason for the construction of houses.
According to villagers, Gajwel Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) D. Vijayender Reddy came to the village on Friday to present the estimated cost of the houses being offered by the government. There are about 450 houses in the village, but the the rates mentioned by the RDO were for about 350 houses. The villagers said that the rates ranged from ₹1.28 lakh to ₹20 lakh depending on the size of the house, the way it was constructed and the spread of the house site.
“The officials have offered us a rate of ₹500 to ₹700 per square yard for tiled house and ₹1,100 to ₹1,200 per square yard for RCC houses. This includes the total space in which the house was constructed. This is unacceptable. We need better compensation. Till then works would not be allowed to continue,” Manipavan Reddy, a villager, told The Hindu .
