VIZIANAGRAM: Families affected by the Tarakarma Tirtha Sagar (TTS) project are intensifying their protest and demanding the government to release compensation. Project affected families (PAFs) also stopped Nellimarla MLA Baddukonda Appala Naidu from entering Saripalli village on Thursday to inaugurate various development works under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Besides this, they are demanding the resignation of the local MLA, Sarpanch and MPTC member for not fulfilling their promise of providing PAF package.
Although the project was started in 2005 with Rs 220.04 crore, the work was stopped midway due to various reasons.
The previous TDP government increased the cost of the project to Rs 471 crore in 2015, but failed to complete the project. Subsequently, the YSRC government once again increased the project cost to Rs 739.90 crore in 2020. Now, the estimated cost of the project is Rs 817 crore, which includes pending land acquisition, R&R and PAF package.
Villagers said the local MLA had assured project-affected families of fair compensation if YSRC’s MPTC candidate was selected. Subsequently, residents of Saripalli unanimously elected YSRC-backed Majji Triveni as the MPTC member.
Later, a government-appointed five-member committee approved a PAF package of Rs 5.5 lakh to each of the 1,400 beneficiaries in Saripalli village alone. However, local leaders as well as officials failed to release the funds.
An amount of Rs 194.40 crore required to complete the remaining works, acquire 189 acres of land and pay the PAF package was approved by CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to complete the TTS project by Dec-2024 as the government had allocated 5 MLD water for the proposal. Bhogapuram Greenfield International Airport from this project.
Jagan had laid the foundation stone for the pending works of the project during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Bhogapuram airport in May 2023. However, the work has not been completed yet due to inordinate delay in releasing the sanctioned funds.
