HYDERABAD: Tact shown by the police and the administration enabled them to persuade all oustees arising from the Mallannasagar project to move out to the rehabilitation colony at Mutrajpalli.A part of the mammoth Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the Mallannasagar project had been stuck in court litigation for a long time.
Recently, the court had asked the government not to evict the oustees forcibly, but they were persuaded to move. The Mallannasagar project, which began receiving water from Sunday, is the last major reservoir in the long chain of projects under KLIS. It has a 50 tmcft storage capacity and is now being fed by the Tukkapur surge pool.
As the surge pool was ready ahead of Mallannasagar, the authorities began utilising the waters by diverting them into Kondapochamma reservoir, which in fact is supposed to get water from Mallannasagar. Though the officials have been anxious to fill Mallannasagar with at least 12 tmcft water in July, the court orders against evacuation with force held them back.
The stumbling block in commissioning the project was the opposition by residents of a few villages who had refused to move out unless they were paid compensation in accordance with the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
There are about 150 families in Etigadda Kistapur, 60 in Vemulaghat, 30 in Pallepahad, and 10 in Erravalli who are in the submergence zone of the reservoir. Finally, all of them fell in line. “We evacuated all the oustees by last night,” the Superintending Engineer said.
All oustees evacuated, says Superintending Engineer
The stumbling block in commissioning the project was the opposition by residents of a few villages who had refused to move out unless they were paid compensation in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act. There are about 150 families in Etigadda Kistapur, 60 in Vemulaghat, 30 in Pallepahad, and 10 in Erravalli who are in the submergence zone of the reservoir. Finally, all of them fell in line. “We evacuated all the oustees by last night,” the Superintending Engineer said.