VIJAYAWADA: The huge difference between the prevailing market rates of land in different villages of the capital region and the amount offered by the government is also one of the reasons for the farmers in Undavalli, Penumaka and other villages of Tadepalli mandal to refuse to part with their farmland for the land pooling scheme for the new capital. Most farmers of these villages are said to have cited this in the 9-2 forms (objections and suggestions).
Ever since the government announced its intention to acquire land through the land pooling scheme, farmers of Undavalli and Penumaka have been vehemently objecting to the government move. Several of them openly have been claiming that they were not ready to give up their land on the ground that they could earn much more than the amount offered by the government.
When asked about this, a farmer from Penumaka, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that land price was also one of the factors in the farmers’ refusal to part with their land. “The going price was Rs 5 cr to Rs 6 cr an acre even before the state was bifurcated and the land pooling scheme for the new capital of the truncated state was announced. Now, the government has equated the market value of our land with that in areas like Tullur, where the land costs not even `10 lakh an acre”, he fumed.
S Prakash Reddy, a farmer who owns 2 acres of land in Undavalli, pointed at a field near his own and said that it was sold for ` 6 cr even before the capital region was announced. “Now the price has come down. It is immaterial what we do with our land, but the government has no right to take our land away by offering paltry amounts” he added.