The Andhra Pradesh government's ambitious Amaravati capital city development plan is facing resistance from farmers in Undavalli and Penumaka villages, who are refusing to part with their lands for the capital city under both the land pooling and land acquisition schemes.
On Tuesday, farmers from the two villages, along with their counterparts from neighbouring Nidamarru, Errupalem and Kuragallu villages, met YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office in Tadepalli, seeking his support in their fight against what they described as forcible land acquisition by the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA).
At the same time, the aggrieved farmers boycotted a gram sabha conducted by the APCRDA in Penumaka as part of the land acquisition process for Amaravati.
“We have held several rounds of discussions with the farmers in the past, but they are not willing to give up their lands for Amaravati under the land pooling scheme, unlike their counterparts in other villages who voluntarily gave up their lands,” APCRDA commissioner V Vijayarama Raju said.
The farmers of Undavalli and Penumaka contend that their villages are located along the Chennai-Kolkata national highway (NH-16), where land values are significantly higher than in other capital region villages.
“Moreover, the lands in these villages are highly fertile and yield three crops a year. How can the government deprive us of our livelihood?” said Sridhar Reddy, a farmer from Undavalli village.
YSRCP Mangalagiri constituency coordinator Donthireddy Vemareddy said hundreds of farming families had depended on agriculture for generations and that surrendering their limited land holdings would push them into uncertainty and financial distress.
Addressing the farmers, Jagan assured them of legal support from the YSRCP.
“Farmers who did not give their lands for the capital region are being harassed by the coalition government. It is unfair on the part of the government to forcibly acquire lands from them,” he said.
