Vamsadhara row: Will move HC to to visit project villages, says Left 

70 Left party leaders, activists taken into preventive custody since Monday 
Vamsadhara row: Will move HC to to visit project villages, says Left 

SRIKAKULAM: After their scheduled interaction programme with the Vamsadhara project evacuees thwarted by the police, the Left parties have intensified their protest as part of the ‘Chalo Vamsadhara’ programme against the district administration’s move of shifting the evictees to the R&R colonies.     
The Left party leaders accused the authorities of resorting to forceful eviction of the residents to R&R colonies without making a full and final settlement. On the other hand , the administration is claiming that all the R&R benefits have been disbursed to the eligible beneficiaries and they will not allow any factors to deteriorate the law and order.

Tension continues in the project villages and in the district headquarters as 70 Left party leaders and activists have been taken into preventive custody since Monday. On Tuesday, CPI national secretary K Narayana and CPM state secretary P Madhu among 39 Left party leaders were taken into preventive custody on their way to the project villages. Dubbing it as police high-handedness P Madhu and CPI secretary K Rama Krishna on Thursday made it clear that they would intensify the protests. 

“Violating the laws, the authorities have announced the schedules for eviction of project villages, without providing basic amenities at R&R colonies and making full and final settlement. Further, the villages are not declared as prohibited areas and preventing us from visiting the villages amounts to violation of human rights. We will procure prior permission from the High Court to visit the villages by the month-end and intensify the protest,” Madhu told  the media here on Thursday.

The Left party leaders said that they would invite the Central leaders to visit the project villages and raise the issue in the Parliament. “We will stage a protest in Vijayawada involving all the 10 Left parties on October 16 and 17. As many as 16 Left party activists have been grilled for the last 24 days for raising voice against the forceful eviction of people of the project villages. The government is using police force to quell the movement launched for genuine reasons,” said Rama Krishna.  

Distrct bandh call evokes tepid response

The district bandh called by the Left parties against the shifting of Vamsadhara project evacuees on Thursday evoked a tepid response.  The educational insitutions, vehicular traffic transacted their business as normal. Meanwhile, the Left parties demanded the grievance cell set up at the collectorate be shifted to Hiramandalam. 

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