-Lokesh urges Divisional Railway Manager not to evict poor families
-Time needed till Govt provides housing
-TDP MLC writes to Vijayawada DRM
-Poor families living there for 4 decades
AMARAVATI: TDP National General Secretary Nara Lokesh on Friday urged the Vijayawada Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) to give time to 650 families to vacate railway lands in Tadepalli in Guntur district considering their helpless situation.
Lokesh wrote a letter to the DRM, saying that more time was needed as the poor families would not be able to find alternative shelter immediately. They may be allowed to continue to live on these railway lands till the State Government fulfilled its promise to provide housing.
Expressing concern, Lokesh said: “About 650 families have been living on railway lands located in 6, 14, 15, 16 wards in Tadepalli, Guntur district, that falls under Vijayawada
division. Many of these households belong to socially vulnerable and downtrodden sections like Dalits, Backward Classes and Minorities. Suddenly, the railway officials served eviction notices to these families asking them to vacate the land by January 22, 2022.”
The TDP MLC said these 650 households have been living on this land for more than four decades and do not have any alternative shelter. Moreover, many of the households earn their income through manual and unskilled labour work.
Nara Lokesh said that the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed them into severe financial distress and the present eviction notice completely makes them homeless. All political parties from this region have unanimously agreed that the Government of Andhra Pradesh should provide housing on an alternative land at the earliest.
Nara Lokesh said that on humanitarian grounds, the authorities should consider allowing these 650 households to continue to live on the above-mentioned land until the Government of Andhra Pradesh provides them with suitable housing.
