HYDERABAD: About two years ago, the farmers of Dilawarkhanpally village of Rangareddy district had given away nearly 62 acres of their land to the government. The land acquisition was being conducted then for the construction of a canal under the Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme (DLIS).
The irrigation canal is almost ready now, leading to the prices of agricultural lands in the area shooting up simultaneously. The farmers who lost their lands, however, still await the compensation.
According to the oustees, the authorities had acquired their land in 2017 after promising that their compensation would be paid within three months. The revenue officials had offered Rs 7.5 lakh per acre in Dilawarkhanpally. “They told us that they will credit the amount to our bank accounts,” they said. But till date, not a single rupee has been credited into their accounts.
As many as 36 farmers have been making rounds to the MRO and district collector’s offices seeking their relief. Speaking to Express, Arikanti Yadaiah said that they allowed the works to begin because they trusted the officials. “Many a time, we met the tahsildar and the revenue divisional officer (RDO) seeking our rightful compensation, but to no avail.
Recently, we even gave a written representation to the district collector, requesting immediate payment of compensation. If we were paid the compensation on time, we could have bought at least 70 to 80 per cent of the amount of land we lost. But now that the land rates have increased, we can no longer buy cultivable land in our locality. Even if they pay us now, we have no idea what to do with the money,” he said.
Yadaiah’s close cousins lost around 10 acres under the project. SK Burhanuddin, who lost 2.5 acres of the 3 acres he owned, used to produce three profitable crops every year. After giving lands for the project, he has to work as a daily-wage labourer in other fields. “They dumped debris unearthed from the canal works in my remaining land. I cannot use it for cultivation until the debris is cleared,” he lamented. He demanded that the government give him better compensation, at least Rs 25 to Rs 30 lakh per acre, as he lost his main source of income.
When contacted, C Amarendar, Ibrahimpatnam RDO, said that he was not aware of villagers demanding an increase in the compensation. “We paid Rs 20.5 crore to other villagers under the project. Now we only have Rs 3.5 crore left with us, and we have already sent the bills for the same,” he stated.