Compromises on Polavaram; agrees to exclude villages facing submergence from new state
People
protest against the Polavaram project in V R Puram block in Khammam
district. All 42 revenue villages in this block will be totally
submerged ( Photo: RAMESH)THE passage of the bill to carve
out Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has come as a blow to about 200
villages in the tribal areas of Khammam
district. These villages, which
are part of the Telangana region and are threatened to be submerged by
the Polavaram dam, will be transferred to Seemandhra when Andhra Pradesh
is bifurcated. For many years they have been part of the agitation for
creation of Telangana and protests against the Polavaram multi-purpose
irrigation project.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill proposes national status for
the Polavaram project and merging of Khammam villages with East Godavari
district in Seemandhra. The bill has been passed by both the houses of
Parliament and awaits the President’s nod. The adivasis in Khammam are
disappointed that the leaders of the Telangana movement compromised
their interests while fighting for the larger cause of Telangana. “They
should have resolutely pressured the Central government to withdraw
national status to the Polavaram project and to keep the tribal areas of
Telangana in Telangana itself,” says Vattam Narayana Dora, convener of
Polavaram Project Vyathireka Ikya Poratta Vedika, an umbrella
organisation of adivasi groups protesting against the project.
The people also fear that becoming part of Seemandhra will jeopardise their resettlement in Khammam itself.
Particularly vulnerable tribals
The Rs 16,010 crore project is under way in West Godavari in
Seemandhra. However, most of the villages that will be affected are in
Khammam. After bifurcation, at least 193 villages from two revenue
divisions, Bhadrachalam and Palvancha, of Khammam will be transferred to
Seemandhra. This tribal-dominated region enjoys special protection
under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The project, which
will also submerge some tribal villages in East and West Godavari and
neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Odisha, besides submerging 3,500 hectares
of forests, is expected to displace about 200,000 people, the highest
ever by any dam in the country.
“The Central government is adamant on constructing the Polavaram
project unmindful of its disastrous consequences on the lives of
adivasis. This will undermine the rights guaranteed to them under the
Fifth Schedule,” says Punem Ramachander, state general secretary of
Adivasi Samkshepa Parishad, a tribal organisation leading the
agitations.
Adivasi communities in the submergence zone include Particularly
Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), such as the Konda Reddy. PVTG is a
Government of India classification to identify and improve the living
conditions of certain communities with particularly low development
indices. Most of them are agriculture labourers or marginal farmers.
They, along with non-tribals in the area, have been demanding scrapping
of the Polavaram project ever since it was taken up by the state
government in 2005. The project does not benefit Khammam or any other
part of Telangana. It is expected to irrigate 300,000 hectares in East
and West Godavari, Krishna and Visakhapatnam districts, all in
Seemandhra.
Agitated people
“Many of the submergence villages have passed resolutions against the
project, which will rob adivasis of their land, water, forest and
livelihood,” says Dora. The Central government gave national status to
Polavaram to please Seemandhra’s leaders and people, he adds.
When the amendment to the bill for transferring the tribal villages
to Seemandhra was proposed on February 7 this year, people in
Bhadrachalam and Palvancha strengthened their agitation. They took to
the streets with bows and arrows, blocking national highways, picketing
government offices, besieging ministers and their houses. “We submitted
petitions to the president, prime minister, governor, chief minister and
tribal ministers against the move. But they ignored all our appeals,”
says Podium Narendra Kumar, a tribal activist.
All the villagers Down To Earth spoke said they wanted to remain in
Telangana where they have been living for generations. “The project is
imposed on us. If the government goes ahead with it, we want to be
rehabilitated in Khammam itself,” says Krishna Reddy, a farmer.
Resettlement uncertain
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, provides for “land for land”
in the same region for people affected by irrigation projects. The Act
has provisions to ensure that all benefits to the Scheduled Tribes and
Scheduled Castes in the affected area continue in the resettlement
area.
“The plan was to rehabilitate the affected people in tribal areas of
Khammam itself,” points out Adityanath Das, principal secretary, State
Irrigation Department. For this, the government had identified some
villages in Bhadrachalam and Palvancha revenue divisions. As per the
present proposal, the villages identified for resettlement will remain
in Telangana, while most of the submergence villages will be transferred
to Seemandhra. This will complicate things, he says.
To compensate for the land that will be submerged, the law requires the
government to make available 12,800 hectares in the same region. But the
government could not find adequate land in Khammam, point out tribal
leaders. “How can it be assured that the Seemandhra government will
find land to rehabilitate people? And even if it does, can people be
rehabilitated in such a way that they can continue to pursue their
livelihoods? If the adivasis from Schedule Five areas of Khammam are
resettled in non-scheduled areas, they will lose their privileges,”
explains M Babu Rao, former member of Parliament from Bhadrachalam.
An
adivasi woman dries red chillies in a village in Kunavaram block,
Khammam, where all 50 villages will be submerged ( Photo: M SUCHITRA /
CSE)The tribal people who will be affected by the
partition have raised doubts over getting a fair deal in resettlement
and rehabilitation. “We do not believe any government will be able to
rehabilitate about 200,000 people, who will be displaced by the
Polavaram project, with houses, land and an alternative livelihood,”
says Dora. He points out that some families displaced by the Nagarjuna
Sagar Dam 50 years ago have still not been rehabilitated.
Many tribals do not possess title deeds. People in a majority of tribal
settlements have not received individual or community title deeds under
the Forests Rights Act, 2006. “We had filed claims, but were not given
title deeds on the pretext that the area will be submerged,” says
Venkateswara Reddy, chief of Pochavaram village.
The tribal leaders are now demanding that the Centre shelve the
Polavaram project, drop the move of “merger” and create a state of
Gondwana comprising the Fifth Schedule tribal areas spread in Andhra
Pradesh as well as in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
