HANAMKONDA/WARANGAL: Not wanting to rub the farmers the wrong way at a time when the Assembly elections are less than two years away, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered an immediate halt to the preparations to acquire land through a land pooling scheme for the construction of Warangal Outer Ring Road Growth Corridor.
The ORR has been proposed to pass through 27 villages in Warangal and Hanamkonda districts. Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA) chairman Sunder Raju Yadav on Wednesday disclosed the decision of the Chief Minister to not go ahead with land pooling.
The decision to keep on hold land pooling scheme followed farmers' protests against the survey of their lands. They have been demanding that the notification for acquiring land under land pooling by the KUDA be withdrawn immediately.
Speaking to media, the KUDA chairman said farmers have represented to the Hanamkonda and Warangal District Collectors and MLAs asking them not to go ahead with the land pooling scheme. A joint meeting conducted with the MLAs and district authorities has suggested not to proceed further with land pooling in view of the farmers' protests for the last eight months.
"Land pooling for the proposed Warangal ORR is temporarily on hold till such time we convince the farmers about the benefits they would stand to accrue if they go in for this method of land acquisition," Yadav said.
According to Arepally, Paidipally and Kothapeta farmers, the KUDA authorities began the process of land pooling for acquiring about 1,600 acres of agricultural land from 500 farmers adjacent to Hyderabad -Bhupalapatnam NH-163 without their consent.
Speaking to Express, JAC convener Budde Peddanna said, "The KUDA chairman does not have the powers to scrap the orders and only the government could do it. No one has the right to snatch our lands." Earlier in the day, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy took to Twitter and alleged that the ruling party has started looting the people in the name of Warangal ORR.
"KCR and KTR through their real estate mafia are hell bent on grabbing fertile cultivable lands from the farmers in the name of WRR. They have amassed huge chunks of lands for cheaper prices in this region long ago (sic)," he tweeted.