The lives of the people displaced by the Polavaram Project, who sacrificed everything for the sake of the project, have still not returned to normal. Their villages are gone.. their farmlands are gone.. their livelihoods are gone.. but rehabilitation is still incomplete. While the government claims that houses have been constructed for the displaced families, allegations are emerging that people are being forced to endure severe hardships because the houses lack basic amenities.
Families who gave up their ancestral agricultural lands for the project have now been reduced to depending on daily wage labour for survival, victims say. Despite running from pillar to post seeking agricultural land in exchange for the land they lost, the government is allegedly telling them to settle for the compensation already paid.
Polavaram Rehabilitation Colonies
Poor Conditions in Rehabilitation Colonies..
The condition of the houses constructed in the Polavaram rehabilitation colonies, according to displaced families, shows how incomplete the government’s rehabilitation efforts remain. Residents allege that houses were constructed without properly levelling the land, resulting in rainwater entering their homes whenever it rains.
Some families are reportedly struggling after rainwater entered their houses. Problems such as inadequate drainage, incomplete roads and a lack of other basic infrastructure are also visible in the rehabilitation colonies, the report states.
The government may claim that it has provided houses, but if those houses do not provide people with the basic conditions needed to live with dignity, how can that be called rehabilitation? the displaced families ask.
Lack of Basic Amenities.. Rainwater Enters Houses During Rains
A closer look at the rehabilitation colonies reveals several construction-related problems in some houses. Water stagnating around homes, rainwater entering houses and inadequate sewage facilities are causing serious difficulties for families.
Displaced families allege that the government is behaving as though its responsibility ends with handing over a house. They say rehabilitation does not simply mean constructing four walls and handing over a house; the government must also provide all the facilities necessary for people to live there with dignity.
Their Ancestral Farmlands Are Gone.. Farmers Forced to Become Labourers
The real struggle of the families who lost their lands for the Polavaram Project begins here. Families that had cultivated their lands for generations have now become farmers without farmland of their own.
Victims say they lost their livelihoods after the lands cultivated by their grandparents and parents were submerged for the project. Families that once grew crops on their own land are now being forced to depend on daily wage work for their livelihood, they say.
“You turned farmers into labourers.. Is this what rehabilitation means?” the displaced families ask.
Where Is the Land in Exchange for Their Lost Farmland?
Displaced families who lost agricultural land say that despite repeatedly demanding land in exchange for the land they lost, there has been no proper response from the government. They allege that they are being told to accept the compensation already provided and remain silent.
But the displaced families question, “Can generations of livelihood be brought back simply by taking monetary compensation?”
Instead of merely paying cash compensation to families dependent on agriculture and washing its hands of the matter, the government should consider how those families will survive in the future, they demand.
Running from Office to Office for Agricultural Land.. But Where Is the Compassion?
Several displaced families explained their problems in the report. They say they have been running from one government office to another seeking agricultural land, but no solution has been found.
They allege that despite repeatedly appealing for justice after losing their lands for the Polavaram Project, there has been no meaningful response. The biggest question before them now, they say, is what will happen to the future of their children.
At the 41.15-Metre Contour.. Massive Rehabilitation Burden
According to the figures mentioned in the report, 172 villages have been identified as flood-affected villages within the 41.15-metre contour of the Polavaram Project. The number of families that need to be shifted to rehabilitation centres has been put at 38,060.
Of these, 17,261 families have already been rehabilitated, while 20,799 families are still awaiting rehabilitation, according to the figures cited in the report.
The report states that 121 rehabilitation colonies have been constructed, while 95 more colonies are yet to be constructed. It also mentions 26 completed colonies in another figure.
These figures themselves indicate the enormous scale of the rehabilitation process that is still pending.
Houses in the Name of Rehabilitation.. But Where Is the Livelihood?
The problems of displaced families have not ended even after they were shifted to rehabilitation colonies, the report says. They were given houses, but not farmland.. their farmland was taken away, but no alternative livelihood was provided.
Families living in the new colonies say that they have also lost the social and economic networks they once had in their old villages. The life that once revolved around their agricultural land has now turned into a struggle to find daily wage work, forcing them to look towards other areas for employment, they say.
Waiting Since 2019.. Yet Compensation and Rehabilitation Still Incomplete?
Several victims quoted in the report say that they have been waiting since 2019 for their problems to be resolved. They claim that years have passed, but rehabilitation remains incomplete and they are still waiting to receive the benefits and compensation due to them.
On one hand, successive governments highlight the construction of the Polavaram Project, water storage and development. On the other hand, the question remains: Why have the lives of the families who sacrificed everything for the project been reduced to such a difficult situation?
Not Just Promises.. Displaced Families Want Justice
The displaced families want the promises made to them to be implemented on the ground rather than remaining confined to official records. They want full compensation to be paid.. alternative agricultural land to be provided.. basic infrastructure to be developed in the rehabilitation colonies.. and a permanent solution to prevent rainwater from entering their houses.
The government needs to look beyond statistics and recognise the struggle for survival faced by every individual family affected by the project.
Even If the Polavaram Project Is Completed.. When Will the Lives of the Displaced Families Return to Normal?
Those who gave up their lands for the Polavaram Project are not people who stood in the way of development. They are displaced families who sacrificed their own lives and livelihoods for development. For such families, incomplete houses in the name of rehabilitation, lack of basic amenities, loss of agricultural land and the need to repeatedly visit government offices for compensation raise serious questions.
Their village is gone.. their farmland is gone.. their livelihood is gone. At the very least, the government must stand by them and support them in building a new life. Constructing a house alone does not constitute rehabilitation.. restoring the livelihood of a displaced family is what true rehabilitation should mean.
The Polavaram Project may be an important chapter in the story of development, but the tears of the families who lost everything for that project are equally important. Until those tears are wiped away, the Polavaram story cannot truly be considered complete.
