Special Correspondent
Ryots say they are ready to die
Land assigned to farmers way back in 1953
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam city committee of CPI (M) has strongly opposed the Government’s move to take over about 48 acres of assigned land at Kommadi village being cultivated by farmers for the last many decades.
Recently, the Revenue officials started the process and informed the farmers that the land would be taken over, said the CPI (M) leaders and farmers at a press conference here on Saturday.
One of the farmers Durgasi Bangaru Patrudu asserted that the farmers would not leave the land and were ready to die if the Government went ahead with its plans.
The banjar land was assigned to some families in 1953 and since then the farmers converted the land into a fertile one raising even paddy.
Borewells were also sunk. Taxes for the lands were collected till 1992 when the lands fell under the urban agglomeration.
Pattas
But the farmers had not violated any of the clauses mentioned in the pattas and continued to be farmers till date, the CPI (M) said.
Among those assigned the land in 1953 were the late Dronamraju Satyanarayana, a senior Congress leader and his relative Prattipadu Raja Syamala Rao, who received five acres and 4.24 acres of land respectively.
“But these two families were not informed that their land would be taken back. Dronamraju Satyanarayana’s family raised commercial crops on its land”, said CPI (M) city secretary K. Lokanadham.
The Government was taking away land from the poor farmers to be allotted to the influential and wealthy private companies leaving the poor farmers in lurch, he said.
Big shots like the Dronamraju’s family, Peela Mahalakshmi and Karri Sitaram were not issued notices on their land but poor farmers were being deprived of their livelihood by taking away their assigned land, he added.
Housing projects
Large extent of Government land was available in the city and outskrits for taking up the housing projects but the Government was bent on taking away agricultural land, he added.
CPI (M) leaders R.K.S.V. Kumar and R. Someswara Rao, and farmers from Kommadi also spoke.
