The municipal councils of Jagtial and Kamareddy passed a resolution cancelling the industrial zone draft master plan at a municipal emergency meeting on Friday, January 20. This comes after intense protests from farmers who feared that they would be forced to give up their lands. Meanwhile, Telangana Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar announced that the draft plan for Kamareddy has been put on hold indefinitely.
Jagtial municipal council members had on December 15 adopted a resolution to implement the master plan. Farmers took to protests as many villages around Jagtial were included in the master plan such as Timmapur, Mothe, Thippanapet, Narsingapur and Hasnabad.
Following the farmers' protests and objections, an emergency municipal council meeting was held on January 20, presided over by Bharat Rashtra Samithi(BRS) MLA Sanjay Kumar and Municipal Chairperson Bhoga Sravani. Additionally, the council unanimously approved the formation of a committee to prepare a new master plan.
MLA Sanjay Kumar blamed the Union government for setting up the guidelines for town planning. He said, “We have received letters instructing us to revise the master plans in accordance with the guidelines established by the Union government." He also accused Congress leaders of misleading the farmers and said, “It was sufficient to state objections in writing, and there was no need to agitate the farmers."
Kamareddy municipal council also passed a similar resolution withdrawing the masterplan. The meeting chaired by Municipal Chairperson Nittu Jahnavi passed a resolution cancelling the draft master plan. She said that it was the fault of the Design Development Forum and Directorate of Town Country Planning officials, who prepared the draft.
Addressing the media she said, “The farmers are worried because of the mistakes in the master plan. We had rejected it earlier. Opposition parties are misleading the farmers. There is no agreement to include the merged villages in the industrial zone. We will stand by the farmers. Objections received within 60 days have been sent to the government.”