The Andhra Pradesh government is gearing up for the second phase of land acquisition and rehabilitation exercise above the +41 contour in the submergence areas of the Polavaram irrigation project across the Godavari river.
Grama Sabhas will be held in 17 habitations where 11,199 Project-Displaced Families (PDF) live in V.R. Puram and Kunavaram mandals in the Chintoor agency of Alluri Sitarama Raju district. A majority of the displaced families are Koyas.
“LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Survey has been completed in the 17 habitations which are falling from +41 contour to +45 contour of the submergence area. The Grama Sabhas will be held between March 21 and April 2,” C.V. Praveen Adhithya, Project Administrator, the Polavaram irrigation project, told The Hindu.
“The Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) package for the PDFs falling up to +41 contour has been under execution so far,” he said.
The Grama Sabhas will be conducted as mandated by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act, 1996.
The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Chintoor) and the Polavaram irrigation project authorities will conduct the Grama Sabhas, where the displaced families will be explained about their entitlements and the R&R package details.