HYDERABAD: Ramagiri Nandaiah and 20 others from Chegyam village in Velgatoor mandal of Jagtial district have approached the Telangana High Court seeking release of compensation for lands acquired for the Sripada Yellampalli Project.
The petitioners told the court that the entire Chegyam village, comprising 126 families, was acquired under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 during the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government for the project.
They said a government order initially sanctioned Rs 58 crore as compensation, but the amount was later reduced to Rs 28 crore and subsequently to Rs 18 crore through GO Rt. No. 320 dated September 24, 2023.
According to the petitioners, most affected families belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and minority communities and have not received compensation for over two decades. They sought a writ of mandamus
declaring the 2023 government order illegal and directing payment of `58 crore with interest under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar issued notices to the state government and senior irrigation and revenue officials, directing them to file their responses within two weeks.