HYDERABAD: Komuravelli Mallannasagar, the Telangana government’s flagship project, may drag on for a few more months. A part of the mammoth Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the Mallannasagar project is stuck in court litigation. With the Telangana High Court on Monday asking the government not to evict people from villages in the submergence zone until the case is settled, it is anybody’s guess when the reservoir will finally brim with water. The court will review the stay orders in September when it hears the case again.
The Mallannasagar project is the last major reservoir in the long chain of projects under KLIS. It has 50 tmcft storage capacity and is supposed to be fed by the Tukkapur surge pool. As the project is not in place yet, Tukkapur is now feeding the Kondapochamma reservoir through a canal, which was originally designed to receive water from Mallannasagar. In fact, Mallannasagar works are nearing completion but there is no way the government can fill it with water as the court’s stay orders are in operation with regard to the eviction of oustees in around four villages in the project’s submergence area. In fact, officials were preparing to release up to 12 tmcft of water from Tukkapur surge pool into the reservoir by July.
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 and who are refusing to vacate their houses. The petitioners who went to court wanted compensation paid to them under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. This included single women and men who are eligible for payment of compensation under the Act, but are still not under the LA Act, which the State had amended before adopting the central act.The villagers allege that though the court has directed against the forcible eviction and demolition of their houses, the authorities were finding ways to reach their objective.
Unmarried oustees allege bias in allocation of houses
Siddipet: Nearly 220 single women and men from the villages that will be submerged under the project are waiting with bated breath, hoping that the State government will allot them houses under the R&R package. After the recent suicide of T Mallareddy, a 70-year-old man from Vemulaghat who jumped into a pyre he made using wood from his demolished house, oustees in the area have become anxious about their future.
According to locals, A Rajamani of Etigadda Kistapur village recently died of a heart attack after suffering from severe anxiety due to the loss of her house and not receiving a fair compensation from the R&R package. The oustees also claim that the government has been targeting those who go to court and have not been allotting them houses.
Several houses already demolished
Villagers alleged that authorities had already demolished several houses in the area. “This happened only when oustees themselves requested authorities to demolish their houses as they wanted to make use of the wood used in the construction,” claimed an official