VISAKHAPATNAM: Tribal farmers from 18 villages in Ravikamatham mandal of Anakapalle staged a protest at the Ravikamatham Mandal Revenue Office on Tuesday, seeking government intervention to address issues related to their land and livelihoods. The protest rally which began at the mandal office and continued to the load centre.
Speaking at the protest, tribal leader K Govinda Rao said, “Farmers from these 18 villages, including Ajjapuram, Kotnabelli, Cheemalapadu, Dharmavaram, and Bennavaram panchayats, depend on 800 acres of cashew nut plantations, which provide a primary source of livelihood for 400 tribal families.
The farmers hold D-pattas and forest land pattas, but pest infestations, including blight and stem borer, have severely impacted their cashew yields, leaving them financially strained.”
The farmers explained that they had borrowed money at high-interest rates from private lenders due to banks’ refusal to provide loans, despite their ownership documents. “With crop losses this year, we are struggling to repay our loans,” they stated.
Govinda said another issue raised by the protesters was the incorrect recording of land ownership in the Webland system during the Jagananna re-survey. Tribal farmers alleged that lands registered in their names were wrongly marked as government land, affecting their access to loans and crop insurance. They claimed that 20 acres had been allocated to non-tribal real estate families.
“Agriculture officials are unable to insure our cashew crops because, according to Webland records, we don’t own the land. This has left us in a helpless position,” the protesters said, urging the government to rectify the records. The protesters highlighted alleged encroachment in the Badampadu revenue area.
They claimed that 5.82 cents of government land in survey number 41 had been taken over by a real estate company, Sharan Group. They demanded the land be reclaimed and allocated to them for housing under the NTR Housing Scheme.
They warned that if no action is taken, tribal associations, CPM leaders, would reclaim the land themselves in early April. The farmers accused revenue officials of colluding with real estate traders to transfer tribal lands to non-tribals in non-scheduled areas. They demanded that the Joint Collector conduct a field inquiry to probe the matter.
They submitted a petition to Ravikamatham Revenue Officer BV Ramana. The officer assured them that the illegally occupied land would be reclaimed within a week and that a report on the crop losses would be sent to the Collector.