A team of officials from the World Bank, who visited the capital region of Amaravati, received a shock with farmers of the area expressing divergent views – some in favour of land acquisition and others against it.
The visit of the World Bank team on Wednesday and Thursday assumed significance in the wake of reports that the YSR Congress party leaders had written to the Bank not to extend loans worth 3,800 US dollars for the capital construction since it was going against the environment and the government was forcibly taking away lands of farmers.
The panel chose to be objective in hearing both the groups opposing and defending the aid.
While the pro-TDP groups mobilised farmers in support of the capital and appealed to the World Bank authorities not to give credence to fake complaints, the opposition groups strongly resisted it.
The World Bank team also visited Vundavilli and Penumaka and interacted with farmers, who complained that the government is going ahead with the capital project without conducting environment impact assessment and social impact assessment studies.
Hence, funding for this project is against the established procedures, they asserted. The ecology of the illustrious Krishna river would be in jeopardy if the capital is allowed in the floodplains, they said.
