SIDDIPET: Oustees of the Vemulaghat village, which will soon be submerged under the Mallanna Sagar reservoir, on Saturday demanded that they be given lands as compensation for the lands they are set to lose. They said they would not give up ownership of their lands if the compensation was dissatisfactory and will take the matter to the Supreme Court.
A few days ago, officials had issued a notice asking farmers who are required to give up their lands to come to the Siddipet RDO office. Fourteen of them turned up on Saturday, demanding they be given land as compensation as per the Land Act of 2013. While telling RDO M Jayachandra Reddy that they didn’t want money, they requested him to convey their message to the government. These farmers, who own 48 acres among themselves, have been under intense pressure from the government to transfer the ownership of their lands.
One of the farmers, Hayatuddin, said, “We have not sold even small portions of our lands in decades. We are not willing to give it up. We want the government to allocate some other land to us.” Hayatuddin told RDO Reddy that they would approach the Supreme Court if the government doesn’t listen to them.