KHAMMAM: Tension gripped Khammam town on Tuesday as revenue officials, backed by a massive police contingent, launched a demolition drive in the 30-acre Bhoodan land at Vinoba Nagar, razing houses built by alleged encroachers.
An estimated 4,000 police personnel drawn from Khammam, Mahbubabad, Suryapet and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts, along with teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) from Hyderabad, were deployed to oversee the eviction. The area was virtually turned into a fortress, with police barricades set up and access tightly regulated.
Police personnel prevented media representatives from entering the site. Officials on the ground reportedly said they were acting on “orders from above” and that media access was restricted during the operation.
Many of the affected families broke down as earthmovers pulled down their homes. Some residents alleged that they had taken loans to build houses and were now being forced out midway, leaving their future uncertain.
A few expressed anguish, claiming the demolitions were “a punishment” for supporting the Congress in the elections, naming Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, ministers from Khammam district Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Thummala Nageswara Rao in their emotional outbursts.
According to local accounts, poor families had been residing on the Bhoodan lands in the Khammam suburb since 2013. Leaders of the CPI (ML) New Democracy condemned the demolition drive, stating that successive governments had regularised the habitation to an extent by providing house numbers, CC roads, drinking water and electricity connections.
CPI (ML) New Democracy leader M Giri alleged that the authorities were evicting long-settled families without offering alternative arrangements, despite basic civic amenities having been extended to the area in the past.
Former minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar criticised the demolition, describing the action as “inhuman” and “a disgrace to democracy.” He questioned the heavy-handed deployment of police and use of JCBs to clear huts in 600 acres of Bhoodan land.
Meanwhile, BJP district secretary Nunna Ravi Kumar alleged that leaders of various political parties — including the BRS, communist parties and Congress — had misled nearly 1,000 poor families residing for years on Bhoodan land near the Khammam Collectorate. He accused past rulers of “cheating the poor” by making promises of regularisation.
Authorities, however, maintained that the eviction drive was part of a land recovery exercise to clear government land from encroachments. The situation remained tense but under control as the operation continued under tight security.