A six-member delegation of farmers from West Godavari met AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday seeking support to their protest against the proposed Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park (GMAFP).

Gandhi not only assured support but also said that the subject would be raised in the monsoon session of the Parliament. Stating that Congress is not against aqua parks, but this venture has to be shelved because it impacts more than one lakh people across 40 villages. He was of the view that the project should be shifted to an empty land near sea shore to reduce the impact.

The group first separately met Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, J D Seelam and K V P Ramachandra Rao detailed them about the issue. They invited Gandhi to tour their village to get actual data and the people’s support

Farmers from from Tundurru, Kamsali Bethapudi and Jonnala Garuv accompanied by APCC President Raghuveera Reddy met Gandhi after receiving an invitation from the congress vice-president.

It may be noted that the TDP government is going about with an industrial zone GMAFP to be setup by Anand group. Residents of Tundurru and surrounding villages have been agitating for the past three years against the park as it would cause large scale displacement and pollutes the environment. The ruling party has remained indifferent to the angsts of people.

The people of the village are ready to take the support from anyone who will fight along with them to defer the project. According to the reports in The Hindu, offices of Minister Pitani Satyanarayana and actor Pawan Kalyan gave a call to the farmers the later in the day yesterday, for a quick decision.