Public hearing on land acquisition for Amaravati railway line on July 22
The district administration asked farmers to come with their documents and objections about the proposed land acquisition.
Union cabinet had given its green signal for rail connectivity to Amaravati in last October. Centre has agreed to take up this project on high priority basis despite the fact that it was not projected in the last budget. It estimated that the new rail line project would cost around Rs 2,245 crore and the new line will be laid from Errupalem in Khammam district on the existing Vijayawada-Hyderabad railway line to Nambur station under the Vijayawada-Guntur section.
Sources said that the railway authorities have already completed the land acquisition in Khammam district of Telangana and are gearing up to launch the first phase of works. Although, the process to acquire the land in three districts- NTR, Guntur and Palnadu was also initiated immediately after the Centre's announcement, it got delayed due to objections from farmers.
The land-owning farmers, particularly from Guntur district, were strongly resisting the land acquisition plans as these lands were located close to the capital city and is expected to fetch them massive price.
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While the current market value for an acre land in and around the capital city is between Rs 4 crore and Rs 8 crore depending on the location, farmers fear that they might not fetch the similar price if acquired by the authorities.
Sources said that local legislator Tenali Sravan Kumar is believed to have been negotiating with the farmers to join the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in case they were not willing to accept the compensation to be offered as per the Act.
Interestingly, the state govt recently conducted grama sabhas in several villages of Thullur, Tadikonda mandals to implement the second phase of Land Pooling Scheme (LPS-II). The railway track will pass through Thullur, Tadikonda and Pedakakani mandals. The land required in Pedakakani mandal will be taken through the land acquisition Act.
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The final hurdle
*Centre has given green signal for development of new railway line to connect Amaravati at a cost of Rs 2,245 crore
*The new line will be constructed from Errupalem in Telangana to Nambur in Guntur district
*The state govt had proposed to give 1,500 acres for development of Amaravati railway station
*About nine stations will be developed between Errupalem and Nambur
*Railway authorities are ready to launch work once the land is handed over by the state govt
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