Farmers stage protest against land acquisition in AP

Hundreds of farmers today staged a protest at the Krishna barrage in neighbouring Guntur against the Andhra Pradesh government's move to acquire land for construction of its new capital.

The farmers from Tadepalli, Penumaka, Bethapudi villages of Guntur district staged protest at Krishna barrage on the bank of river Krishna to oppose the land acquisition policy of government for the developing the new capital region.

Regional leaders and party workers of Congress, YSR Congress, CPI and CPI(M) were also present at the protest to support farmers.

Nearly 5,000 farmers raised slogan against government's move to acquire their land and also demanded that the government withdrew notices issued under Land Acquisition act, CPI (M) general secretary of capital region Babu Rao said.

"We will not allow the government to acquire land under the (Land Acquisition) Act. If necessary we will also approach the court," he said.

Amid protests by opposition parties and farmer groups, state government on Friday issued a notification for land acquisition in the Vijayawada-Guntur region where the state capital 'Amaravathi' is coming up.

Traffic between Vijayawada and Guntur districts was hit as a large number of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the barrage due to the agitation.

Later, police used mild force to disperse the protesters and cleared the traffic.