KARIMNAGAR: Farmers of as many as seven villages in the district are not willing to give up their lands for the construction of National Highway-563 (NH-563) and the subsequent bypass road in Huzurabad mandal.
On Wednesday, farmers of Kandugula, Peddapapaiahpalli, Rampur, Rangapur, Kothapalli, Singapur and Sirsapalli villages in Karimnagar district submitted a memorandum, along with their signatures, to the District Collector stating their disagreement to give up their farmlands.
Due to assured water supply from Kaleshwaram Lifted Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), SRSP, canals and local water bodies, every year, farmers cultivate three crops. The construction of the highway threatens their livelihood, and farmers expressed the same in strong words in their memorandum.
They stated that if the government forcefully takes away their lands, they would be displaced and they would have no means of livelihood, and would leave them with no other option but to kill themselves.
Bandi Sammaiah, one of the farmers who would be affected by the highway, said with the construction of the bypass road, local tanks would also be encroached upon.
Farmers said they are not against the construction of NH563, but they oppose the bypass which has been proposed over many agricultural fields.