Farmers protest the land acquisition for the Raipur-Vizag greenfield road

Opposing the acquisition of land for Vizianagaram and Raipur-Vizag Greenfield Road projects, leaders of Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham, and farmers from affected villages met the Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday. They submitted a memorandum to the Project Director, seeking action on the forcible acquisition of their land. 

The District President of the Sangham, Gandi Narayana alleged that hundreds of acres of land had already been acquired for these projects. According to him, this additional acquisition of farmland in the name of link roads, corridors, and hubs, will only deprive the villagers and farmers of their livelihood. 

The AP Rythu Sangham, which is affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) claims that lands in Jami, Chinnapalem, Mentada, Amaravalsa, Korlam, Jayanthi, and Pachipenta in Vizianagaram District are being acquired for the Vizianagaram Greenfield Road. They also added that lands till Sabbavaram in Visakhapatnam District are being acquired for the Raipur-Vizag Greenfield Road project and Ring Road project. 

Earlier, in September 2020, the farmers from S Kota and Gantyada had opposed the construction of this greenfield road. They had claimed that the proposed land would travel 94.29 kilometers in the district and pass through 51 villages and 38 Gram Panchayats. It was then said that this road project is primarily aimed at providing ease of traffic congestion between Vizag and Raipur. The farmers had then taken to roads to send the message that development can’t come at the cost of livelihood. 

AP Rythu Sangham Vizianagaram District President, B Rambabu, Visakhapatnam District leaders, Gorle Ravi, Karaka Srinu, Chappa Chinna, P Sanyasi Naidu, G Appalanaidu, R Satyam, K Gangu Naidu, G Krishna, K Ramesh, P Visweswara Rao, and V Ganga Naidu were among those who met the NHAI Project Director on Tuesday.

Furthermore, it was recently announced that stretches of the Rajahmundry-Vizianagaram would be developed into a Green Highway.