ONGOLE: The police on Tuesday arrested 20 farmers of Mallavaram village for allegedly obstructing the Superintending Engineer (Irrigation) of the Gundlakamma project from discharging his duties and produced them in the Third Munsif Magistrate court. They were remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.

The Superintending Engineer, B Surayanarayana Babu, had complained to the police on September 17 that about 50 farmers led by one Raghava had obstructed him from discharging his duties the previous day. In his complaint he stated that the Irrigation Department was working hard to complete the project to release water to 30,000 acres in kharif as directed by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

So they constructed a diversion channel to Gundlakamma to take up work on the earthen bund. But as the rivulet received floodwaters on September 16, they wanted to break the coffer dam and allow water to go in the normal course in a bid to save the diversion channel. He alleged that the farmers had obstructed the irrigation officials from doing the work and had later staged rasta roko on NH No 5. When he had tried to pacify them, they had ghearoed him for three hours, he stated in the complaint.

As the farmers had obstructed the engineers from breaking the coffer dam to allow the water in the normal river course, the diversion channel breached leading to a row between district Collector B Udaya Lakshmi and Addanki MLA and TDP district president Karanam Balaramakrishna Murthi on September 1, Mr Suryanarayana Babu said.

He also complained against Mr Balaramakrishna Murthi for allegedly using impolite language against him when he visited the village after the diversion channel had breached.

The farmers were dismayed as the police descended on Mallavaram village and wanted to arrest the farmers identified from the video footage of the rasta roko and other events of September 16 and 17.

Officials surprised

They picked up 20 farmers in Tuesday. The arrested farmers however complained that farmers belonging to all political parties had participated in the agitation on that day but the police arrested only those sympathetic to the TDP.

Irrigation officials also expressed surprise over the arrests, saying the village was now peaceful and they were able to attend civil works to complete the project by November 15 and release water to 30,000 acres.

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