The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Winning over project-oustees

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Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Winning over project-oustees

G. Nagaraja

Efforts on to build public support in favour of R&R package

Some 26 villages face threat from Indira Sagar
R&R colonies are designed as replicas of ancestral habitations

SIRIVAKA (WEST GODAVARI dt.): The small gathering of semi-clad Scheduled Tribe Kondareddies with all their rusticity were seen nodding their heads and sporting smiles on their faces all through an hour-and-a-half interaction with K. Peddiraju, Relief and Relocation (R&R) Officer, in this remote agency village in West Godavari district.

Yet, this cannot be construed as a blanket approval of the government-sponsored relocation and rehabilitation (R&R) package for those displaced by the Indira Sagar project.

“This is only a touch-and-go-affair,” concedes Mr. Peddiraju while saying that the scene would change the moment any anti-dam activist enters the scene. The administration has identified 26 villages with a population of 15,000, mostly tribals, facing the threat of submergence from the dam in the district.

Inauguration

The ground is prepared for implementation of the package for seven agency villages and Deveragondi, one of these is ready for eviction. The colony built for its inhabitants near Polavaram is scheduled to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister either in July or August, says the R&R officer. The official machinery is making all-out efforts to build public confidence in favour of the package, weathering many an anti-dam protest. In a bid not to deprive the tribals of their habitat and sources of living, the R&R colonies for the project oustees have been designed as the replicas of their ancestral habitations, which they are now forced to leave. Take the case of this village, which is proposed to be relocated at P. Narayanapuram in Jeelugumilli mandal from the present place falling under Polavaram mandal. A single block of over 130 acres is acquired for ‘replication’ to accommodate 82 families.

Places of worship

A new church and Anjaneya Swamy temple too will be rebuilt. As Kondareddies are basically forest-dependent community and toddy is their favourite drink, it is planned to raise the plantations of palm, besides ‘usiri’ and tamarind in the 122-acre agricultural land earmarked for them. Almost all the notified villages are under the influence of Agency Girijana Sangham (AGS), CPI (ML)-Jana Sakti and the CPI (M), which are opposing the Polavaram dam tooth and nail.

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