For residents of Vemulaghat, the Telangana land bill getting cleared by the Union law ministry was a slap in the face. The land acquisition bill was passed by the state assembly in December 2016. "I do not think we need to worry about the bill because it still has to go to the president for his clearance," says Hayatuddin, a farmer from Vemulaghat with 18 acres of land. He also runs a school in Siddipet. "When there is a Central Act 2013, why should the state government create another bill if not to cheat the farmers?" he asks.
The Telangana state government plans to construct the Mallannasagar reservoir to store 50 TMC ft water. For this project, the government has to acquire over 16,000 acres of agriculture land. So, when it came to compensation, in September 2016, the Telangana government issued GOs 123 and 214 through which it sought to speedily disburse compensation and rehabilitation.
The government's argument was that, as per the new Act, it will pay more compensation than usual, with more transparency, when compared to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The state government also claimed that the compensation process would be much quicker. But what the state government and the CM did not expect was a stubborn streak among the 14 villages they had to acquire, ironically from Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao's constituency. While 13 villages have now signed on the dotted line so to speak, the people of Vemulaghat village are not yet ready to bend down.
It is not a small thing what this village of 540 are doing. They have been standing together as one for 316 days and counting, refusing to give in to the demands of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.
The villagers of Vemulaghat say they will not give their land for the construction of the Mallanasagar reservoir. They will acquiesce only if the state government compensates them as per the 2013 Central Act. This Act was brought forth during the UPA regime and the Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was one of the signatories.
The government is being blamed for ignoring the Land Acquisition Act 2013 to formulate its own land policy and issuing a government order (GO 123) that treats the process of taking away land as a pure purchase. While the Act prescribes four times the market value of land as compensation, the farmers are demanding at least Rs 16 lakh an acre rehabilitation and resettlement of villagers, considering most of these farmlands have three crops.
The government is offering Rs. 5.8 lakh an acre under GO 123.
“Under GO 123, we will settle the amount within two weeks, with the land owner getting Rs 8 lakh per acre. Compare this with the Act where they only get three times the registration value, which is now Rs 60,000 an acre. The SC/STs will get four times the land value, but we are offering more,” said Telangana Irrigation Minister Harish Rao.
But the farmers of Vemulaghat wonder why the state government insists on harassing the Telangana farmers. They feel they should be left alone, considering they were part of the Telangana struggle and done their bit for the new state.
"Give us compensation under the 2013 Act, and we'll vacate the place. Or else, you can build the project on our corpses. We will not give up our land," says one farmer.
It is strange that the state government is insisting on this fairly whimsical idea after many experts have claimed that the reservoir was not viable.
K.V.N. Prasad of Praja Telangana, a technocrat turned politician, says, "Mallanasagar is a huge project where they plan to store 50 TMC of water. Only, there is no natural flow of water or an underground pipeline. So, they have to dig 500 metres on plain ground,” he says. "This area has black cotton soil and needs sand which is not available here. So, apart from digging a pipe to bring the water, they will also have to transport all the sand and material needed to build the project.”
Hayatuddin echoes the sentiment. "Water gets sucked into the earth. And according to a geological survey, this is an earthquake prone area and hence cannot and should not store water. The government can instead build a balancing reservoir and store up to 5 to 10 tmc of water."
The state government also went about acquiring land without following any rules, the first being holding a public hearing. "There was no public hearing held," says Hayatuddin, "We all think this is a fake project."
Though many among the 14 villages had opposed the project and refused to give up their land initially, Vemulaghat is now the only village that has stuck to its decision for almost a year now.
They have been holding a relay hunger strike for more than 316 days and counting, where about five from the village gather at about 9.30 in the morning till 4.30 in the evening. In fact, 10 to 14 members of the women self-help groups also did a 100 day continuous relay hunger strike.
A blackboard announces the names of those fasting, along with the number of days the village has been protesting. For the past two months, between July and September 2016, section 144 was in place at Vemulaghat.
The land under this village is 5,300 acres, out of which around 1,800 acres is forest. According to the 2011 census, Vemulaghat has more than 500 families, which is now 540. The villagers have only one demand: "We will give up our land under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act only, and not under Government Order (GO) 123.”
