Amaravati turns battlefield ahead of Chandrababu Naidu’s visit
AMARAVATI: Amid political slugfest between the ruling and opposition parties over Amaravati, Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu is all set to visit the capital city, his dream project, on Thursday, evoking a mixed response from the locals who appear divided along party lines.
The political temperature shot up a few notches after Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana described the capital city as a burial ground.
On the eve of Naidu's visit, TNIE visited ground zero to know how the people of the capital villages, particularly the farming community, perceive the recent developments.
As we travelled through the villages, none was visible at the work sites, where construction activity had come to a halt for six months now, after the change of guard in the State.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has given the green signal for resumption of works at a recent review meeting bringing much-needed relief to the farmers who surrendered their lands for the capital.
However, several workers engaged in construction activity have long left the capital region.
There are still a few like Bupender Singh from Bihar, who was contracted to work at a diesel depot, hanging around in the hope of finding work again.
As there was no work, he has not been paid salary for four months. “I hope the works will recommence and good days will come back,” he says. Same is the case with an Odisha-based labour contractor, who engaged over 100 workers for the Secretariat and HoD building works.
“About Rs 20 lakh worth bills are yet to be cleared. We are not being paid as the government stopped the works. I am sandwiched between the agency, which doesn’t pay, and workers, who don’t agree if I don’t pay,” the contractor said on condition of anonymity.
A similar situation prevails in the surrounding villages. MV Siva Reddy, president of Undavalli-Penumaka Cooperative Bank, says that till a few months ago, the region was a beehive of activity and there was demand for houses and hotels.
“In Penumaka, a house used to be rented for Rs 14,000 to Rs 15,000 per month, but today, it has come down to Rs 6,000 and one can see ‘To Let’ boards everywhere. Now, with Chief Minister Jagan giving the go-ahead for the works in the capital, people are happy again, their hopes have rekindled,” he explains.
According to him, with the Central government including Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh on the political map of India, most of the apprehensions have been put to rest. The Chief Minister’s latest statement has also cleared several doubts, he maintained.
Even those like G Naresh Reddy of Penumaka, who vehemently opposed the land pooling scheme (LPS), stressed the need for developing the capital on the lands given by the farmers under the LPS.
“The Chief Minister’s decision has come at the right time. All we request both the ruling and the opposition parties is not to politicise the issue and focus on the development of the region to benefit all,” he says.
However, not all the farmers are willing to believe the Chief Minister. Many who parted with their lands for the capital want a concrete assurance from Jagan on the floor of the Assembly.
“My family parted with 20 acres for the capital. In the last six months, there was no progress in works and now the Chief Minister has issued a vague statement. There was no word on how the project will be executed if the scope of the earlier proposals will be revised and time frame for their completion.
It looks more like a political statement in the wake of Naidu’s visit. We request the Chief Minister not to treat this as a political issue, but a social issue as it is related to the future of thousands of farmers and their families,” says Jonnalagadda Manoj Kumar of Velagapudi.
Manoj along with several other farmers from the capital region attended the meeting organised by the TDP on Wednesday in Thullur ahead of Naidu’s visit. Kiran Kumar, another farmer, opined that Naidu should raise the issue in the Assembly to protect the interests of the farmers and at the same time, the Chief Minister should give a concrete assurance in the House.
Pendem Appa Rao, a farmer from Anantavaram, said contradictory statements by ministers and leaders of the ruling party are sending wrong signals and creating confusion.
“Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath says the government has no money and capital city project is its last priority. Another minister questions the need for the capital here. Though the Chief Minister has given the green signal for the development of the capital and returnable plots, we hope it is not yet another political statement. We urge the ruling party leaders not to play mind games with us,” the farmer said.
The Chief Minister’s instruction to cut down unnecessary expenditure and focus on completing the works taken up already didn’t go down well with some farmers.
“Look, we have parted with our lands voluntarily expecting a better future not just for our children, but for the entire State. If there is no branding of Amaravati as a world-class capital, how will investments come here and how will the development of our place happen?” M Raju of Thulluru sought to know.
Echoing his opinion, Uppalapati Sambasiva Rao, another farmer, said when Naidu visits capital villages on Thursday, they will raise all these issues so that he can take them up in the ensuing Assembly session.
TNIE team also came across Dalit farmers staging a demonstration accusing the former Chief Minister of cheating them by not giving compensation to the assigned lands on a par with other lands.