Vanpic oustees remove fence, plough land

HYDERABAD: With more and more farmers pressing for return of their land acquired for the Vanpic project in Prakasam district, the movement to take up cultivation in Vanpic fields has gained momentum. In fact, rural development minister Dokka Manikyavaraprasad set the ball rolling by tilling the land at Allur village in Kothapatnam mandal on June 4.
CPI leader K Narayana led a group of ryots at Gundaipalem on Tuesday and removed the fences put up for the Vadrevu and Nizampatnam Port and Industrial Corridor (Vanpic) project. Last week, a group of dalits entered the lands in Peddaganjam village and threatened to undertake sowing operations. "Our lands have been taken away for the project and our lives have turned upside down. We will not wait any more. Our lands must be returned immediately,"" said farmer Devaiah.
AP Rythu Sangam district secretary Ranga Rao said jobs were promised by the Vanpic promoters. ""The promises of Vanpic promoters to set up industries in the last three years remained hollow. Not a single industrial unit has been launched. The oustees are unable to eke out a livelihood as their lands have been taken over by the promoters at cheaper rates,"" he pointed out. Several farmers complained that their lands were forcibly taken away.
With Vanpic promoter Nimmagadda Prasad cooling his heels in Chanchalguda Prison in connection with the Jagan disproportionate assets case, farmers and dalits are now demanding that their lands be given back to allow them to cultivate since the project is a non-starter. ""We used to cultivate paddy and harvest 30-35 bags of paddy per acre. With no industrial activity, we want the government to hand over the lands to us,"" said farmers sangham leader Srinivas Rao.
Anti-Vanpic struggle committee leader Shankar Rao urged the government to cancel the GOs on allotment of lands on the lines of its recent move to scrap the GOs on Brahmani Steels, promoted by mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy. Meanwhile, the minister has urged the farmers not to take the law into their hands by occupying the Vanpic fields. He said the Congress government is seized of the matter and would try to do justice to the oustees.