A delegation of Left MPs, comprising CPI national secretary D Raja and CPI(M) MP A Sampath, visited Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh following complaints from the public that the State government is forcefully evicting people for the Vamsadhara reservoir project. The Vamsadhara project is part of Amaravati, the proposed Andhra Pradesh capital.

Raja and Sampath said they will write to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the forceful eviction. “Section 144 has been imposed in the area for months so that people do not hold protests. The Andhra Pradesh police tried to prevent us from visiting the area. Despite that we talked to villagers. The NHRC should intervene immediately as the situation is very bad,” Sampath said.

The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 has been blatantly violated by the Chandra Babu Naidu government, he added. “We will raise this in Parliament too. They are trying to evict 7,104 families in 201 villages. The compensation given per acre of land varies between ₹80,000 and ₹1,20,000. Naidu claims this is a people’s project. But the reality is otherwise. There is no proper rehabilitation measures till date. The rehabilitation package has to be announced first,” Sampath said.

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