The Telugu Desam Party on Tuesday demanded that the State Government return the land that it acquired from the farmers for setting up Special Economic Zones in the State.
Briefing the media at NTR Trust Bhavan about TDP delegation’s visit to Kakinada SEZ, former minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao said that originally 2,500 acres of land was proposed to be acquired for the Kakinada SEZ. However, the government acquired nearly 10,000 acres from the farmers. Further, he said the acquired land was proposed to be allotted to the ONGC. But a major chunk was allotted to an industrialist KV Rao and to the GMR Group.
Sivaprasada Rao alleged that the police have been trying to suppress the agitation taken up by farmers affected due to the Kakinada SEZ. So far, he alleged that the police have booked more than 450 cases against the agitating farmers.
He said that TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu and other TDP leaders would participate in the agitation in Kakinada SEZ on April 20.
Opposition leader in Legislative Council Dadi Veerabhadra Rao said that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was not serious about reviewing the land allotments done in the name of SEZs. He said that the State Government has been snatching away land from the poor farmers and giving them to the industries at throw prices.
Regarding Kakinada SEZ, he said that the land was acquired from the farmers at a cost of Rs 3 lakh per acre, but the same was being sold to private companies for Rs 5 crore per acre. He alleged that the government neither paid compensation to the affected farmers nor provided them with jobs. (INN)