Andhra Pradesh - Ongole   

Relief package changes fortunes of oustees

Special Correspondent

Joint Collector asks officials to solve problems in upcoming colony

STOCK-TAKING: Joint Collector Siddhardha Jain going round the rehabilitation colony being constructed at Mallavaram village. — Photo: Sreenivas Kommuri

ONGOLE: Basavaiah, a landless labourer, has been cultivating temple land on lease in Chinna Mallavaram village. He lost both his land and house due to submersion under the Gundlakamma project.

The Government provided him a compensation of Rs. 30,000 for his thatched hut. But he got Rs. one lakh under the socio-economic relief package offered to landless evacuees. He was also given five cents of land in the rehabilitation colony at Mallavaram close to his old habitation.

He is spending nearly Rs. 1.5 lakh for construction of three-room house with asbestos roof in the new colony. As the l s considered bad, he had to spend a fortune to lay strong foundation. He found it beyond his means to lay RCC roof. "It would cost Rs. 50,000 more," he sighed. He plans to eke out his livelihood as a mason in Ongole before he got some land on lease for cultivation in the neighbourhood.

Hectic activity

The socio-economic relief package has thus turned to be manna for landless evacuees. Hectic activity is noticed in the new colony where evacuees started constructing houses. They complained that shortage of water and erratic power hindered construction activity.

Joint Collector Siddhardha Jain visited the colony on Tuesday and asked officials to solve the problems immediately. He reviewed the progress of infrastructure in rehabilitation colonies proposed at Maddipadu and Gullapalli villages for 428 families to be evacuated from Ghadiapudi and 439 families from Burepalli village.

The rehabilitation colonies are provided with a planned layout, wide roads, protected water, street lights, school buildings, hospitals, temples etc to meet all the requirements of the evacuees.

Also the new colonies lie close to the Chennai-Kolkata NH 5. Though main and internal roads are ready in all the new colonies, overhead tanks are still under construction and electrical lines are to be charged.

Mr. Jain asked officials to provide water and power as early as possible so that people would start construction of houses and evacuate the villages threatened with submersion.

YSR's directive

For 674 families of Thammavaram village, land for rehabilitation colony has been finalised. For 340 families of Garlapadu village, land is under negotiations.

He expressed confidence that the rehabilitation colonies would be ready soon to enable the to people evacuate villages facing submersion.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has directed officials to release water at least to 30,000 acres under Gundlakamma in the current kharif season itself. So officials are racing against time to create new colonies and evacuate people from submersion villages.

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