Villagers of Ainavolu gladly gave up their farmland, now govt wants their homes down

“It is giving us sleepless nights. Some of the villagers whose houses are on the line had build these houses very recently or added floors after getting compensation from the government for their land,” said gram panchayat vice-president Palakayula Arjun Rao. “Where will they go?”

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In July, Ainavolu had become the only village in the capital region to give up its agricultural land under the land pooling scheme. When they made this resolution, farmers celebrated along with Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) officials and TDP ministers.

“It was a matter of pride for our village of just over 5,000 people to give our land for the construction of Amaravathi. Every farmer unanimously agreed and we gave the land all at once, without any glitch,’’ said Mokkamatam Seenu, a farmer who pooled five acres.

The proposed highway threatening their houses will connect Undavalli near Vijayawada and several other villages in the capital region.

One of the houses facing possible demolition belongs to P Sivaiah, who built it recently. “I handed over our five acres and with the money we got, we built this house. And now they are saying it will be demolished?” Sivaiah said.

Right in the middle of the village, a roundabout and a junction have been proposed for the intersection of the planned highway with another. “We feel the junction will divide this small village into four. It is a matter of sentiment. People of all communities, whether they are upper castes or backward castes or SCs, have always lived here together without anything dividing us — but this expressway will divide the village,” said V Gyananandam.

When Ainavolu’s villagers decided to give up their land, the TDP government had announced a reward of Rs 30 lakh as village development fund. “We have not seen a paisa of this promised fund so far,” village vice-president Arjun Rao said. “When we raised the matter with Urban Development Minister Dr P Narayana last week, he said the amount would be transferred to the village this week. We are still waiting. We need the money to lay pipelines to supply drinking water in the village. Right now, we use a rudimentary sand pit to filter water from a pond and villagers have to carry it back to their houses. We need money to set up a filter plant. But now we are fighting to save houses from demolition.”

Minister Narayana, who is also in charge of the land pooling scheme, said if the alignment of the expressway is changed, it will affect more villages. “The final decision on the expressway will be taken only after consulting the villagers. We will offer land at alternative sites and fair compensation if houses have to be demolished to make way for the expressway,” he said.

While some house owners are willing to relocate to a new site, others with ancestral property are objecting and one of the reasons is that land rates have shot up drastically in the last six months, especially after the expressway was announced. “One acre, which did not sell even at Rs 10 lakh a year ago, now goes for Rs 80 lakh. It went up to Rs 1.20 crore last December but came down due to the uncertainty,’’ farmer-turned-real estate agent C Mallikarjuna Rao said.