A group of eminent personalities today demanded the Centre and Andhra Pradesh government to invoke the Land Acquisition Act 2013 to acquire land for Polavaram Multipurpose Irrigation Project for ensuring adequate compensation and compulsory employment to the displaced people.
The appeal has been made by senior journalist and member of Press Council of India K Amarnath, economist Pentapati Pullarao, Chairman of Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies, N Bhasker Rao and Shravan Kumar Advocate of Supreme Court.
In a statement, they said about four lakh people would be displaced when the project is completed, constituting the largest displacement of people in India for any single project.
"The new Land Acquisition law clearly states under section 24(2) that the entire Land acquisition process has to be made anew, if people are still living on their land and properties. We also appeal that these people should not be evicted and displaced and prevented from cultivating their lands till Government announces that Relief and Rehabilitation will be under the new law of 2013," they said.
Pointing out that the recently promulgated Land Acquisition ordinance states that displaced people under central projects can demand employment for one member in a family, they said that this should be applied for the Polavaram project, in the backdrop of displacement of lakhs for the national project.
