SRIKAKULAM: District administration has taken up measures to ensure normalcy across Vamsadhara project displaced areas in the district. The authorities have disbursed cheques among 200 persons in the project displaced villages in the last three days.
After Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s visit, authorities have expedited the works. Joint collector Chakradhar Babu held talks with the village heads of all the displaced villages and appealed to them to support the government as it had set the target to release water by June.
He also promised them to pay all the pending bills, including benefits under R&R packages. On the demand of Vamsadhara oustees, the JC said that he would take up the issue of application of the 2013 Act with the government. Chakradhar Babu also held talks with the dalitawada villagers who obstructed the earthworks of the Vamsadhara balancing reservoir at Signidi village of Bhamini mandal and assured the villagers to resolve their grievances.
According to sources, the state government has accorded administrative sanction for construction of the Vamsadhara project Phase II to cover an ayacut of 45,000 acres in 201 villages in seven mandals at an estimated cost of Rs 933.3 crores in 2005. In the initial survey, the government identified 20 fully inundated villages and 14 partially affected villages under the project.
However, 19 villages were identified for evaluation, including five from Kotturu, 13 of Hiramandalam and one from LN Peta mandals. The authorities have also identified about 6,850 families as project displaced families.
Under the rehabilitation package, the government distributed pattas to about 4,800 families of nine PDF villages till now. The government considered twice to enrol them under the youth package in 2005 and 2013 as well with which as many as 3,289 youngsters have been identified as beneficiaries of the package.
However, the government accorded the administrative sanction of Rs 421 crores in July last year, including Rs 182.35 crores for 3,647 pending PDFs at the rate of `5 lakh and Rs 164.45 crores for about 3,289 youngsters under the youth package at the rate of Rs 5 lakh each and Rs 75 crore for pending structures.
Despite denying the benefits of the youth package, 200 beneficiaries received the cheques as of now, said RDO Gunnayya. He said that the negotiations would soon bring normalcy across the project areas.
“We have stopped receiving cheques and made the demand for application of the 2013 Act or to pay compensation of not less than Rs 11.5 lakh to each PDF,” said Madapana Simhachalam, an evacuee of Garlapadu of Hiramadalam mandal.
Minister of Civil Supplies and in-charge minister of the district P Sunitha on Saturday said that the government had released Rs 193 crores to the Vamsdhara oustees under the rehabilitation packages against the administrative sanction of Rs 421 crores.
Addressing newsmen at Srikakulam, Sunitha recalled that the government had allocated Rs 421 crores to the evacuees under the R&R package.
Unlike for other projects, the government offered youth package of `5 lakh each to the youth of PDF, she added. Sunitha also said that as many as 19 teams had been deployed across 19 project displaced villages in three mandals to receive the grievances from the oustees.
On the paddy procurement, Sunitha said the government had procured 24.70 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, while Rs 3,700 crores have been deposited into the accounts of farmers.