HYDERABAD: The chula at Bhagyamma’s 300 yards asbestos sheet home held only a small steel pot with a day old rice gruel.
“We haven’t eaten properly in four days,” said K Bhagyamma. Her husband, K Ravindar, has not been able to find work at Kistaipally village, Jinnaram mandal despite after moving there three months ago.
The couple, in their late 40s, hail from Dacharam village, Sangareddy district, formerly under Medak. They, along with 12 other families, live in homes built using asbestos sheets foraged from their homes razed to the ground by the Defence ministry and state administration.
In 2015, close to 300 homes at Dacharam village were destroyed leaving 275 families homeless. All members of the 275 families took refuge at nearby villages. The land belonged to Dundigal Air Force Academy (AFA) of the Union Defence ministry.
Missing Compensation
Dacharam and its neighbouring Dharugulla village were located within the 6,400 acres acquired by the Defence ministry in 1962. The lands were used for setting up the AFA. The ministry had paid compensation to 13 villages for the agricultural lands that the government acquired.
But they did not pay compensation for the 109 acres of land where both the villages stood. As compensation package did not factor in the structural cost of the two villages, they decided to not accept the compensation.
The villagers thus did not collect the cheques that were issued to them and the defence ministry agreed to further discuss the matter. “But in 1963 the Indo-China war broke out and the whole issue was forgotten by the defence ministry,” said Sudhakar Reddy, a resident of Dharugulla village. Dacharam and Dharugulla remained the only two villages that did not accept compensation and for a while all was good, he added.
“The villagers continued to farm at their ancestral lands that was now owned by the central government. We knew the land did not belong to us but awaited compensation that was promised to us,” says Sudhakar. The AFA did not lay claim to the lands nor the villages, so we continued farming at our ancestral lands. Both the villages fell outside AFA fences, he added.
In 2008, the AFA gave the excess land of 1,400 acres out of the 6,000 acers to the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). They were to build a top secret facility for a project code named ORANGE. The outer wall construction of the new project thus boxed in both the villages.
In 2012, the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package for both the villages were discussed at a meeting. The meeting was held between the state government officials, defence ministry and representatives from both the villages.
At the meeting, the monetary entitlement and benefits entitled were discussed and agreed upon. Under the R&R package, each family was supposed to get `1,52,500 and 300 square yards each for a new home. The package was also to contain the “payment towards structures that had not yet been released by the DRDO”.
Two conditions were set before the villagers, one was not to obstruct the project work of DRDO and the other was to stop farming. The villagers agreed to both the demands. The land allotted at Kistaipally village for the displaced families was part of the rehabilitation package. It was to be developed into a “modern colony” with funds from the defence ministry and be executed by the district collector. Of the `14.4 crore sanctioned in 2014, `7.2 crore was released to the then Medak collector and `5.5 crore was utilised.
The Eviction
In 2014, four members from Dacharam approached the AP High Court. “They were from the Schedule Caste community and the few acres of land they had were patta lands gifted to them by the N T Rama Rao government but the land belonged the defence ministry,” said Sudhakar.”They fought the case badly,” he added.
“This was when things started going out of hand for Dacharam villagers,” said a state government official with the revenue department. The court did not rule in favour of Dacharam. “The farmers who filed the case could not prove they were residents of the village. The court verdict unofficially declared the entire village as encroachers,” he added.
The R&R package entitled to both the villages was withdrawn by the High Court. Thus the `7.2 crore spent on the development work undertaken at Kistaipally village also came to a standstill. The villagers who went to court were fined `1,500 for wasting the time of the High Court.
“They now live in different villages but not everyone stays in touch with them. Their decision to go the court affected everyone,” said Sudhakar.
“We had no problem paying compensation and money for the R&R, but with a standing High Court order, we cannot do anything,” said a senior official with the RCI, DRDO.
“These people shot themselves on their foot,” said a revenue department officer. “There is nothing that can be done for them as there is a standing court order that prevents them from getting even the rehabilitation package. They went to the court but could not prove they were residents of Dacharam and thus lost the case. Maybe the promise of a two bedroom home can be made possible, but that decision rests with the state government,” he added.
In August 2015, DRDO completed the construction of their security walls. This brought movement restrictions for anyone entering the two villages. The same year Dharugulla villagers decided to go to the court but fought the case better and was thus able to obtain a “stay order” from the High Court. Witnessing the small victory, Dacharam villagers too decided to approach the court but in a more united fashion.
But on September 14, 2015, officials from both state and central government started the demolition work at Dacharam. By evening, 275 families were destitute. The DRDO officials were kind enough to grant three days allowing the villagers to collect their belongings from the demolished village.
The residents of Dharagulla village watched the demolition work at Dacharam in horror. “Some of the villagers stayed even longer in the village, with no water supply or electricity. They just did not have anywhere else to go. The officials did not inform or give them any time,” said Sudhakar.
The tale of two villages
The only sign of the resettlement money spent by the local administration in 2014 in developing Kistaipally village are the unused sewage drain pipes.
There exists no proper roads that connect this part of the Kistaipally village to the main road. For Ravinder to find work, he either has to travel on foot for 11 kilometres to the main road for commute or wait for an RTC bus that makes three trips a day.
Kistaipally is a fully electrified village but come night the new residents are left in the dark. The electric poles and a transformer has remained idle for the last four years.
“I sent my two children to live with my relatives in Karimnagar, they dont find this place safe, there is nothing for them here,” said Radha. Her family had taken a loan of `35,000 from a local money lender to build their new asbestos home. “We moved here because we couldn’t pay the rent for our previous home,” she added.
“The joint collector had visited us and promised to set up electricity, water and sewage connections,” said T Ravi, who moved to the location eight months ago and now works as a driver. “The local MLA Mahipal Reddy also promised that the state government will construct two bedroom houses for us. I hope that the promise will be kept,” Ravi added.
Sangareddy district Joint Collector Venkateshwarlu refused to comment of the matter while Patanchery MLA Mahipal Reddy was unavailable for comment. The women in the village travel two kilometres, three times a day to access the nearest water source. “The local villagers helped us build the borewell, but they treat us like outsiders,” said Ravi. They do not even let us cremate our dead, he added.
A few metres behind their new settlement is the Bollaram industrial lake. “The water is not fit for drinking, the industries release their chemicals into that lake,” said Ravi. Taking pity on the plight of the new residents of the village, a water tanker provides them with a few tubs of drinking water, but for a token charge.
All the twelve families could no longer afford to pay rent for the houses they moved to after being evicted from their homes. The rest of the 275 families are scattered across 35 kilometre radius of Dacharam, all of them live in rented spaces. More are expected to join their brethren at Kistaipally in the coming months.
The main cause of worry for new residents is the lack of employment prospects,”There was a time when I would make `15,000 in a year as profit just by farming, now I am able to earn just `6000, travelling expense alone would cost me `2,000. My wife is a heart patient I can’t even afford the medicines anymore,” said Ravindar as he nudged his wife to cover the torn part of her blouse.
If Dacharam villagers are struggling to put their lives back together, the residents of Daragulla are trying to not let it fall apart. Out of the 50 families that previously resided in the village, only 12 remain.
“We don’t have anywhere else to go,” says Sudhakar whose only house has its walls and roof falling apart. “We still stay here with the hope that the compensation money will arrive someday,” he added.
A few of the houses that fell outside the village boundary were destroyed by the DRDO, some houses fell apart due to neglect. The state government machinery does not exist for the village anymore. Owing to its smaller size, the village is now a hamlet of a much larger Gummadidala village.
“People are not repairing the houses anymore, what is the point? We will be evicted sooner or later,” says Prashant Reddy a businessman. “I live in Hyderabad but I visit here everyday to have lunch with my parents. They are attached to this place and chose to still live here,” he added.
With agricultural options not available, the men of the village now make a living selling milk. Few of the women have found work at nearby pharmaceutical companies working for `140 a day packing tablets.
“If the security guards find our cattle, they will lock them outside the gate 10 km away from the village,” said Anand Reddy, the 41-year-old used to farm 40 acres of land but is now a cattle rearer. “We don’t want to stay here anymore. But what choice do we have? We will move out of here when we get our compensation,”Anand added.
The pathway that leads to Dacharam are now filled with thorny bushes and from among the bushes the village emerges with the sight of rubble. Recalling the day Dacharam was destroyed, Prashant said, “If we tried to stop the officials from razing a building at this part, they would start razing the buildings at another end of the village. We had no choice but to cry out to them to stop.”
“The only structures left standing at Dacharam today are the village school and community hall, a crumbling water tank, a Hanuman temple and a watchtower built during the time of the Nizams. No one comes here anymore, it is painful to watch. Dacharam now exists only in government records,” said Prashant.