The Hyderabad High Court on Monday stayed the acquisition of land in Undavalli village, which comes under the area of Andhra Pradesh's upcoming capital Amaravati.
The court was hearing a petition filed by locals of the village, stating that local authorities had started acquiring land, without permission from the state government or the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).
Questioning the land acquisition in the village, which falls under Tadepalli mandal in Guntur district, the Hyderabad HC said that it was not correct and stayed the procedure.
This came a day after actor-politician and Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan lashed out at the ruling Telugu Desam Party on Sunday, and assured farmers in Undavalli village, that he would stand with them in the face of their land being taken away from them forcibly.
He also warned the government of consequences if they took the land away by force.
“What should we (the farmers) do?” Pawan asked, at the meeting. “Should we eat the soil as they construct skyscrapers? We are not slaves to anyone. The Constitution has guaranteed us the same rights.”
Pawan was on a whirlwind tour of the Amaravati area, and he interacted with farmers who are being asked to give up their land to build the new capital for Andhra Pradesh.
He appealed to the farmers to revolt if the government tried to invoke the Land Acquisition Act to forcibly take their lands away. The land that Amaravati is coming up on is extremely fertile and it is said that this land can yield 120 kinds of crops. However, it is all being acquired for the new capital.
In case the farmers so choose to rebel, he said his party would firmly stand with them.
In his meeting, several farmers told Pawan that Section 144, which restricts the movements of people, had been imposed in their villages and the police were asking farmers for their Aadhaar cards to enter their own villages.
They also alleged that their lands were being labelled as dry or uncultivable and being taken away from them. But they said it yielded at least three crops each year.
He requested the state DGP to allow the farmers to enter their lands without restrictions and review the measures taken if they were for the CM’s security.