Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

`Sriharikota evacuees' face uncertain future

Special Correspondent

Special Economic Zone haunts them

TIRUPATI: Travails never seem to end for the `Sriharikota evacuees'.

It was in 1976 when they were living in a hamlet near Sriharikota that they were forced to leave it lock, stock and barrel as it fell within the zone where the Government of India decided to set up the Sriharikota Rocket Launching Centre (SHAR) in the area in Nellore district.

Migration

The 100-odd families then migrated en masse to Varadaiahpalem village in Chittoor district and settled down. They then replenished the lands aroundand started cultivating them to eke out their livelihood.

When everything looked normal for the nomads from Sriharikota, trouble started again for the unlucky lot in the form of the Sathyavedu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) after 30 years.

As the lands they replenished with their hard toil also fall in the zone being sought to be acquired for the SEZ, they are now facing eviction en bloc from here too.

Bad luck continues to haunt them wherever they settle.

On the positive side, it looks as though major projects come up wherever hey settle.

CPI(M) campaign

The CPI(M) Rythu Sangham `jaatha' visited the colony on Tuesday in course of its `Chalo Delhi' campaign and listened to their woes.

Though they vowed to raise the issue on the floor of the House in the upcoming winter session, `eviction' appears to be the writing on the wall for the `Sriharikota evacuees'-- the name which the locals have given them when they joined them 30 years back from Sriharikota.

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