Though the central and state governments are moving ahead to complete the construction of Polavaram project at an earliest, the rehabilitation of displaced people remained as a big challenge to the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is inspecting the project site on Monday.
As the Narendra Modi-led central government is non-committal on it, the state government is failing to get support from the Center. According to official information, even13.01 percent of the families affected by the flood have not been relocated yet. Officials presented these figures to the government at the Collectors’ meeting held in August that only 12,797 families have been relocated out of a total of 96,600 families.
After that, there has been zero progress in the matter of displaced people! That is, in total, 12,797 families have been relocated out of 38,060 families in the first phase. Of those who need to be relocated above 41.15 meters in the second phase, 44,105 families in Alluri district and 29,157 families in Eluru district are to be relocated. Out of a total of 96,660 families, only 12,797 families have been relocated, while 83,863 families are yet to be officially relocated.
Moreover, the cutoff date for youth who have completed 18 years of age has been set as October 1, 2017. After that, there is a large number of youth who have completed 18 years of age. The displaced people are demanding that the cutoff date be set as the cutoff date for vacating the village, but the rulers are not paying attention.
There are disputes in many places over the land given to the tribals. Compensation for the unclaimed lands has not been given, and land for the land has not been given. A total of 25 villages, eight villages in Kukkunur mandal of Eluru district and 17 villages in Velerupadu mandal, have to be evacuated under the741.15 Kantur limits.
With the completion of the construction of the coffer dam, the displaced villages are being submerged every year due to floods. Rehabilitation and compensation are to be provided to 4,316 families in these mandals under 41.15 Kantur. So far, not a single village has been fully rehabilitated. No compensation has been given. The same situation is also in Alluri and Seetharamaraju districts.
The state government has decided to provide Rs. 33,000 crores as compensation to the displaced people who are losing everything due to the Polavaram project. Since it is a national project, the funds should be given by the center. The previous YSRCP government completely failed to get funds from the center. The current TDP coalition government is also adopting the same attitude in this matter.
Although the TDP coalition government says that the center is giving Rs. 12,000 crores for the construction of the Polavaram project, it has not yet said how much of it will be allocated to the displaced people. There are suspicions that the central and state governments are under the impression that if the villages are submerged after the construction of the project, the displaced people will leave in fear for their lives.
