KCR reiterates plea for return of five villages under Polavaram

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday reiterated that his Andhra counterpart, Chandrababu Naidu, had agreed to return five villages that would come under the submergence area of the Polavaram project. KCR said on the occasion of visit to the Bhardrachalam temple for Sriramanavami celebrations that he had talked to the AP Chief Minister in this regard and that he had agreed to the proposal. It maybe recalled that under the AP Reorganisation Bill, some villages that would be coming under submergence were merged with AP. As if anticipating the move, on Thursday (just 24 hours ago), however, Chandrababu had toured the areas coming under submergence and had assured the Girijans that their interests would be fully protected. He told the Girijans that they would be provided with alternative lands and that the compensation for them would cost the State more than the project itself. He also allayed all the Girijans' fears. Still KCR reiterated that five villages would be returned to Telangana, turning it somewhat like the Mahabharata story, wherein the Pandavas seek just five villages before annexing the entire Kuru territory with the guile of Lord Krishna.