NALGONDA: With Pulichintala project waters inundating villages in Nalgonda district, people of five villages are being shifted to rehabilitation centres by the district administration.
The AP government, which released `69 crore for rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of the villagers, had stored 11.5 tmc of water in Pulichintala project as the controversy over storing water in excess of 9 tmc came to an end with the release of R&R package amount.
With TS government taking up power generation at Nagarjunasagar power unit by releasing 31,000 cusecs, the water level at Pulichinthala reservoir increased to 11.5 tmc and the backwaters inundated five villages in Nalgonda. While Adloor was submerged completely, water entered Vellatoor, Kistapoor, Nemalipuri and Chinthriyala villages. Water is entering houses and people are moving to nearby school buildings for safety.
Meanwhile, reports said people of some villages are opposing storing of water in Pulichintala reservoir, leading to submergence of their villages. Residents of Adloor village burnt the effigy of AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for maintaining above 9 tmc water level at Pulichinthala reservoir, resulting in submergence of villages. After prolonged talks initiated by district officials, who assured the villagers that they would be compensated immediately, the villagers agreed to shift to higher ground. The district administration constituted a three-member committee with joint collector Preethi Meena, Suryapeta RDO Srinivas Reddy and Pulichinthala special deputy collector Shiva Reddy to convince and shift people to rehabilitation centres.
In view of the submerge problem, the TS government had stopped power generation at Nagarjunasagar to reduce the water level at Pulichinthala. Shifting of people has become easy with the AP government sanctioning `69 crores for rehabilitation and resettlement.
District officials said according to rules, they are depositing the compensation amount directly in the bank accounts of the villagers. Officials said 3,700 families are living in the five villages. If 20 tmc water is stored at Pulichinthala project, another eight villages will be submerged.