Tumkunta residents protest Rajiv Rahadari road-widening plan

Residents in Tumkunta protest 200-foot road widening, demand fair compensation like the 2023 Uppal project.

Residents of Tumkunta, led by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), staged a protest on Tuesday against the proposed 200-foot road widening project along the Rajiv Rahadari, citing fears of mass displacement and inadequate compensation.

The protest included a rasta roko demonstration where residents blocked the road, held placards, and raised slogans denouncing the government’s land acquisition proposal. Protesters said the move would affect thousands of families and force many out of their homes.

JAC Chairman Telukunta Satish Gupta, who led the protest, said a memorandum was submitted to the Deputy Collector of the Land Acquisition Department at the Tumkunta municipal office. The memorandum demanded that the widening be restricted to 100 feet instead of the proposed 200 feet.

The JAC pointed to the 2023 Uppal main road widening project, undertaken during the previous government, as a more equitable model. In that case, landowners were compensated with land, which protesters say should be replicated in Thumkunta.