KHAMMAM : CPI (M) leader and Bhadrachalam MP Midium Babu Rao said on Tuesday his party would ask the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to revisit Bhadrachalam for a detailed study of the submergence of the forests and tribal habitations in the Polavaram project-affected areas. He said the committee, which had come to Khammam and West Godavari districts, restricted its visit to areas listed by the State Government.

He said he would meet chairman P. V. Jayakrishnan and impress upon him the need for revisiting the area. The issues would be taken up in the Supreme Court as well, he added. The panel was expected to devote more time to environmental issues pertaining to the Polavaram project but went on a whirlwind tour leaving little scope for the affected communities to present their case, he said.

Brief interactions

He said the forest pockets bearing the brunt of submergence were deliberately avoided in the committee's programme. Pristine forests in Chintoor and Vararamachandrapuram mandals and the all-important Papikonda wildlife sanctuary did not figure in the tour.

At Koida village, the committee had a brief interaction with locals. At Velerpadu village, the families likely to be affected waited in large numbers , but failed to reach the committee members.

The self-help groups engaged by the administration presented a rosy picture of the rehabilitation package at Devaragondi village in Polavaram mandal.

The voice of 98 project-affected families was lost in the melee.

They were not allowed to explain the ground realities to the panel, he said.

No listeners

The housing colony for displaced persons was built in the non-scheduled area in Itukalakota panchayat. The housing colony built for rehabilitation of project-affected families at Reddigudem was a low-lying area prone to floods. The beneficiaries had been airing their grievance about the location from the beginning, but to no avail. The 30-km stretch of the Godavari bank from Pocharam in Khammam district to Kondamodalu in East Godavari district was important for assessing the submergence. The extent of forest submergence was given as 3,200 hectares, but in reality it would be over 5,000 hectares. A full-fledged fact-finding committee would benefit affected persons, he said.

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