Hyderabad: Victims of a hut demolition drive at Gundlasingaram, joined by leaders of Left parties, staged a protest outside the Hanamkonda district collector’s office on Wednesday, July 1, demanding that double bedroom houses be built for them on the same site.
The protest was part of a picketing programme announced earlier by CPI and CPM leaders, who have been running a phased agitation against the demolition of huts built by poor families on government land in Hanamkonda and Warangal districts.
At least 200 huts were demolished in a drive carried out in survey number 174 at Gundla Singaram on June 20. The demolition began around 5 am, a day after residents who protested at the collector’s office were detained by Kakatiya University police.
Leaders of the red flag parties said if the government went ahead with demolishing the homes of the poor, all Left parties would unite and intensify the agitation. They reiterated their demand for pattas and double bedroom houses at the same site rather than displacement of the families.
CPI state secretary and MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao and CPM state secretary John Wesley had earlier led a rally from Ekasila Park to the Hanamkonda collectorate on June 27, where they alleged that the government was targeting the poor while ignoring large-scale land encroachments by influential persons and real estate developers.
The Left leaders have also announced a Maha Dharna at Indira Park in Hyderabad on July 6 to press the state government to halt the demolitions and issue house site pattas to eligible families.
