Congress Asks Centre To Mediate In Mallanna Sagar

Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana State Legislative Council and senior Telangana Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Thursday sought the intervention of the Central government to end the impasse over the Mallanna Sagar issue.

"Although the construction of reservoirs and irrigation projects is a State subject, the Central government can't remain a mute spectator to the sufferings of thousands of poor farmers and villagers who will be displaced by the State government," Shabbir Ali said in his letter to the Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati.

He alleged that the Telangana government had re-designed the projects only to gain revenue.

"The State government hasn't made the detailed project reports public, as it doesn't want to receive criticism or suggestions from people or their elected representatives. Therefore I request you to kindly intervene and seek a detailed report from the State government," he wrote.

Accusing the Centre of neglecting Telangana, Shabbir Ali said that so far not a single project in the State had been given national status. He urged the union minister to furnish the details of all the projects of Telangana for which financial assistance had been sought by the State government.

Shabbir Ali also wrote a separate letter to Telangana Irrigation Minister Harish Rao, asking him to make all DPRs, including Mallanna Sagar, public.

"People have the right to know and understand the implications of irrigation projects. The DPRs are not classified documents unless stated otherwise by the government," he said.

Shabbir Ali asked whether Mallanna Sagar and other projects were actually approved by the Central Water Commission (CWC), as the Centre did not fund projects that lacked CWC approval. He sought from the government the list of projects for which central assistance had been sought. He said the minister should also clarify whether Central funds were being sought based on the DPRs prepared by the previous regime.

The Congress leader also asked Rao to take immediate steps to mitigate the chaos in the State over Mallanna sagar. Stating that there was no mention of re-settlement and rehabilitation in GO No 123, he asked the minister to give a detailed clarification on the same. He also urged that compensation should be paid to the outsees as per Land Acquisition Act, 2013, instead of GO No 123.

"The projects are meant for the people, and it will be against the spirit of democracy to implement a project that can potentially destroy the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. It is quite disheartening to note that some decisions taken by the State government have put our State in utter chaos. People who made lots of sacrifices to achieve statehood for Telangana are today subject to harassment, torture and lathicharge merely for refusing to part with their lands which for generations have been legally theirs. With specific reference to the outsees of the Mallanna Sagar project, I would like to draw your attention the confusion that prevails among thousands of farmers who fear eviction," he said.

"I would like to remind you that Telangana's struggle for statehood was to win the people's right to their share in land, water, jobs and other resources. No political party, including the ruling TRS, is empowered to encroach upon the same right now just to satisfy its ego," he said.

On a separate note, Shabbir Ali also condemned the government for invoking Section 30A of the Police Act to suppress the agitation by the outsees of Mallanna Sagar in the Medak district. He alleged that the Telangana State under TRS rule was in an "undeclared state of emergency" wherein neither the farmers nor the Opposition parties were being allowed to even register their protests.