HYDERABAD: Stating that the allegations of the petitioner were false and baseless, the Telangana government has urged the Hyderabad High Court to vacate the interim orders granted on Feb 7 directing the authorities not to dispossess the farmers from their lands of 240 acres in Gowliwada village of Peddapalli proposed to be acquired for Sundilla barrage under the Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation Scheme till completion of land acquisition process under the Land Acquisition Act 2013.
Pursuant to the court direction, the state government filed a counter affidavit in the PIL case by Pendru Praveen Reddy, a resident of the village. In the counter, the government alleged that the petitioner had filed the PIL with an intention to stall the project by creating a false and baseless story.
The allegation of indulging in coercive methods by the authorities in acquiring lands from the farmers are baseless. It further alleged that the petitioner has distorted the facts of assigning the land in survey number 453 of the village despite when there was no assignment made so far though the land belonging to government poramboke.
Further, the government stated that the project contractor has so far invested about Rs 100 crore and due to interim orders of the court the machinery and manpower were being wasted, and urged the court to vacate the interim order granted earlier.