VIJAYAWADA:Taking exception to the irrigation department issuing notices to people living in houses built by encroaching upon canal banks in Vijayawada, Congress leaders Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru) and Malladi Vishnu have demanded that the government desist from such steps. Addressing mediapersons here Saturday, Nehru said the government wanted to evict hundreds of dwellers on the banks of canals in the city in the name of canal beautification. “There are around 20,000 dwellings on canal banks. People have been living there for several decades now. It is unjust on the part of the government to ask them to vacate their homes calling them encroachers,” he said. He said irrigation minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao had grabbed 3.5 acre land belonging to Shadikhanna in Bhavanipuram area.