C Pradeep Kumar
Vijayawada
Is more trouble brewing in Ippatam, once a sleepy village and now part of the bustling Tadepalli-Mangalagiri Corporation? An otherwise peaceful village that has now turned into a household name in Andhra Pradesh following controversial demolitions for road widening works.
The State government’s act has triggered a spiral of political activity and the prominent among them is the protest staged by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan in the village.
High drama marked Pawan’s visit to the village with the State government trying to apply brakes to his march and subsequently, the actor-turned-politician reaching the village film style by sitting on the rooftop of his car which led to the registration of a case against him and his entourage for alleged violation of traffic rules.
It may be recalled that Rs 6 crore was sanctioned by the State government for various development activities in the village for road widening, road dividers, and a central lighting system. The officials demolished the houses and compound walls of 53 houses at Ippatam village as part of road widening in the first week of November.
One of the reasons for the flare-up in Ippatam, according to sources, is that the government had failed to convince the villagers about the need for widening the main road and the construction of a central divider with central lighting and this resulted in the acrimony, leading to a political commotion.
The officials said that the government wanted to widen the Ippatam village main road and construct a divider and central lighting system at a cost of Rs 6 crore. The government had already widened the main road of Atmakur village, near here, and put in place the central lighting system. The authorities took up development and beautification works at Ippatam on the lines of steps taken in Atmakur.
Accordingly, the officials completed the marking of encroached land in Ippatam village in February 2022 and started issuing notices to hand over the encroached government land. But the villagers did not take the notices seriously despite knowing that the encroached land belonged to the government.
According to sources, Rs 136 crore was allocated to widen the main roads of various villages and to construct a central lighting system in the Guntur district and as part of it, Ippatam village was chosen for the facelift with the proactive efforts of ruling YSRC leader from the village Vivek.
Meanwhile, the residents of Ippatam now fear that two temples in the village, one of them a century-old Sri Rama temple built in 1907 located in the middle of the road at one end of the village, and
an overhead tank may do a vanishing act if the State government goes ahead with its project which is expected to be completed within a few months.
It is learnt that former village sarpanch T Pitchaiah who was in power for more than 15 years, constructed his house by encroaching upon the government land. He approached the AP High Court praying for stopping the demolition activity in the village.
S Sambaiah, a resident of Ippatam village, told The Pioneer that the way in which the officials razed to the ground the compound wall of his house was not proper and in violation of the rules. When asked about the Rs 1 lakh compensation offered by JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, they said they were ready to accept the money.
Former village sarpanch Pitchaiah said, “The Rama temple that was constructed more than 100 years ago has significance and we will not keep calm if the temple is touched.” He said that they have already approached the leaders of the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and RSS seeking their support if the government decides to demolish the temple in the name of development.
