KHAMMAM: Thousands of farmers living on the banks of River Godavari in Dummugudem village in Bhadrachalam live in the grips of fear as the construction of the 200 metre Dummugudem barrage proposed by the State government above the existing barrage will most probably mean that they will lose over 5,000 acres of land.
Worrying about losing their fertile lands which is their only means for a livelihood, the farmers are unwilling to hand it over for the construction of the barrage.
Many have already lost thousands of acres of lands for the Sri Sita Rama lift irrigation project and Bhadradri thermal power plant. According to sources, the farmers have decided to obstruct the land acquisition process.
The State government gave the green signal to construct the 1.5 km long, 14 meter high barrage with a tentative budget of Rs 3,400 crore to store 37 tmc of water for irrigation and drinking purposes. In fact, for the construction of a 50 metre wide, 20 kilometre long bund, around 9,150 acres on both sides of the river banks is required. Around 4,000 acres of government land is available and the remaining 5,000 to be acquired patta land.
The barrage is proposed to be built 200 meters above the existing barrage which was constructed long ago by the British. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is very keen on constructing the barrage, said officials.
However, how the State government will convince the farmers and how much compensation they will offer is left to be seen. When contacted, Irrigation Executive Engineer K Chary said that detailed manual exstimates were being prepared, only after which the actual cost could be ascertained.As per Google, around 9,000 acres of land is needed to complete the construction of the Dummugudem barrage.
Besides the construction of the new barrage, the State government has also planned to construct 320 mega watt power plants, and the proposals are under process. TS GENCO will take chrage of the thermal power plant.