Farmers opposing 'Pharma Village' attack officials in Telangana

Hyderabad, Nov (IANS) Villagers protesting against the proposed land acquisition for Pharma Village in Telangana’s Vikarabad district attacked the district collector and other officials on Monday.

The incident occurred in Lakacherla village when district collector Prateek Jain, Kodangal Urban Development Authority special officer Venkat Reddy and others went there to convince villagers to attend the public hearing.

The farmers and other people of Lagacherla stayed away from public hearings held near Dudyal mandal headquarters.

A person on behalf of the farmers approached the collector during the hearing and requested him to hold the public hearing in the village. When the Collector and other officials agreed and went to the village, farmers started pelting stones at their vehicles.

Kodangal Urban Development Authority special officer Venkat Reddy was injured in stone pelting. He had to run through the fields to save himself.

The villagers also attacked the vehicles with sticks. Three vehicles were damaged.

The incident triggered high tension. Police send additional forces to control the situation.

The incident took place in Kodangal, the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

This is the second time that the public hearing was disrupted by villagers opposing land acquisition.

The officials had to postpone the public hearing last month due to violent protests in Rotibanda Thanda in Dudyal Mandal. The protestors had pelted stones on the car of Mandal Congress president Aveti Shekhar, resulting in injuries to him.

Some villagers had also doused kerosene on themselves to immolate themselves to protest against the project. Police personnel had intervened to stop them.

Following the protest, the officials postponed the public hearing on Pharma Village, a cluster for pharma companies.

People in Dudyal Mandal have been opposing the Pharma Village project.

Chief Minister’s proposal to establish a Pharma Village in his constituency is facing stiff resistance from farmers. They argue that the land acquisition plan threatened their livelihoods and they have vowed to continue their protest until the government withdraws its proposal.

Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is supporting the protest by the villagers against the project.

The State government plans to acquire 1274.25 acres of government and patta lands from the villages of Hakimpet, Polepalli, and Lakacharla in Dudyal Mandal for the proposed pharma village.