SRSP waters forces villagers to bid an emotional farewell to their ancestral homes

“Feeling so sad to leave my sweet home” is written on the wall of a house in Kodurupaka village of Vemulawada mandal in Rajanna-Sircilla district, which is submerged under the Mid Manair Reservoir (MMR) project.

Incidentally, Kodurupaka is the native village of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s in-laws.

An eerie silence prevails over the village which now has only empty structures without roof, doors or windows. The villagers could be seen packing their belongings to move to their allocated Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) colonies on the Karimnagar-Vemulawada road.

Empty shells

“This house, was a home to my grandfather, my father and I and my kids. We are leaving it as it would be submerged under the MMR project. While going we are taking away the roof, doors and windows,” said B. Shankar, a former MPP in emotionally choked voice. He has since moved to Karimnagar town with his belongings and is building a new house in the R&R colony, which does not even have basic infrastructure.

As the MMR neared completion and crest gates were being fixed, the Irrigation Department authorities decided to store at least five TMCFT of water in the reservoir. But, the project oustees refused to leave their homes during the Dasara and Diwali festivals when the SRSP waters were released from the flood flow canal into the MMR.

At that time, the Irrigation and Revenue officials urged the villagers to vacate the village as the MMR would be filled with 10 TMCFT of water against its storage capacity of 26 TMCFT.

2BHK dreams

With the water entering the village, the villagers had no option but to leave their ancestral homes. Hurriedly, they shifted to Vemulawada, Sircilla and adjoining villages and also Karimnagar town and took shelter there as they had not built their houses in the allocated R&R colonies.

When asked why they did not build houses, the villagers said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao during his maiden visit to Vemulawada temple town in June 2015 had announced that the government would construct double-bedroom houses for MMR land oustees at a cost of ₹5.4 lakh each.

“We hoped that the CM’s promise would materialise, but in vain. Now, we are struggling to build new houses in R&R colonies,” complained Venkataiah of Kodurupaka village.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> City> Hyderabad / by K.M. Dayashankar / Rajanna-Sircilla – November 04th, 2017