Pharma City ryots on warpath against Telangana government

Panga Anasuya campaigned for the Congress during the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections. Now, she vows to never vote for the party again. The middle-aged farmer from Kurmidda village of Yacharam mandal in Ranga Reddy district is set to lose all her 12 acres to Pharma City, proposed by the erstwhile Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, and pursued by the current regime.

Anasuya was one of the protesters at Dharna Chowk in 2022, whom present Chief Minister and then TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy had met and assured that the Congress government would scrap the Pharma City proposal. “He had held my hands and promised that he would not let the land slip away from me,” Anasuya recalled.

Now, farmers in four villages of Yacharam mandal — Kurmidda, Nanaknagar, Medipally, and Thatiparthy — cannot sell or transfer the land, as registrations are banned. They are unable to sell their crops at agricultural market yards, as there is an unofficial ban on farm operations in the lands.

All the farmers present at a round table meeting against Pharma City conducted on Wednesday were furious at the government which, they say, betrayed their trust in the most remorseless manner. Telangana State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission chairman M. Kodanda Reddy was also in the line of fire.

“Kodanda Reddy, at the time of elections, told us not to give patta lands for Pharma City. He also promised to release assignment lands after Congress came to power. But now, our lands are being fenced off despite a stay issued by the High Court,” Devuji, another farmer, said.

“At least five to six MLAs, who won, had sat with us protesting against Pharma City. Now they all have become government brokers. Only symbols have changed, not the government’s policies. Not one MLA stood with the farmers when their crop was being washed away during recent floods. They were all busy with Jubilee Hills election campaigning,” fumed Kondal Reddy, a farmer from Medipally village, who incidentally was a Congress party worker.

The round table was organised by ‘Movement against Pharma City’, and Telangana People’s Joint Action Committee. Sarawathi Kavula, representing the former, said majority of the lands in Yacharam mandal are patta lands, and most farmers approached the High Court and got a stay.

“Soon after assuming reins, the Chief Minister announced that Pharma City has been cancelled. But online, the titles did not change. We learnt that the project was not cancelled, only when they revealed it to the High Court,” Kavula said. She said no Congress leader, including MLC Kodandaram, has been helpful.

She also questioned the rejection of nominations filed by 10 protesting farmers for Jubilee Hills byelections, as the same yardstick was not applied to Congress candidate Naveen Yadav.

Farmers and activists protesting the pollution by ethanol and bulk drug industries from Chittanur, Patancheru, Domadugu and Peda Dhanwada villages attended the meeting and spoke about their travails, along with civil society representatives.