The Handover
Closer to home for the families who gave up land and houses for a reservoir, Wednesday brought money and a promise. With Phase-I of the Veligonda project moving toward its inauguration, Andhra Pradesh released another 200 crore of compensation for the oustees whose lands and homes went into the reservoir’s footprint, and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu handed the cheque over in person, on the Assembly premises, to representatives of the affected families.
Counting Wednesday’s release, the state’s rehabilitation and resettlement outlay for the displaced now stands at 518 crore spread across 4,157 families, the New Indian Express reported on 20 August 2026.
Where the Money Went
The payout did not arrive from nowhere; it is the latest instalment of a longer ledger. On June 27 the state handed 300 crore to project-affected people, and earlier still, 2,557 families received 318 crore under the One-Time Settlement route for homes they had built themselves. Wednesday’s 200 crore reaches another 1,600 families, and for the communities still waiting, the chief minister gave his word that “the remaining balance of the compensation package would also be cleared shortly”.
At the handover, Naidu spoke of the sacrifices the local farming community and displaced residents had borne. The gesture landed, by the account of the day: the families, in turn, thanked the state for standing by its commitment to their welfare as commissioning approaches.
New Homes in Seven Colonies
What it means for people is not only the cheque but the roof that follows it. To smooth the move, the state is fitting out seven designated R&R colonies with civic amenities. In six of them the basic infrastructure, roads, drinking water lines and power supply, is finished, and displaced households are already shifting into homes built newly for them there. The seventh settlement, Vemulakota, is the one where crews are still at work, and its families are the last waiting on a finished address.
That is the state of play for the Veligonda oustees as Phase-I nears its inauguration: a cumulative 518 crore paid across 4,157 families, Wednesday’s 200 crore stretching cover to another 1,600 households, six of the seven resettlement colonies ready for occupation, and only Vemulakota, the last address, still under construction. For a farming belt that traded its fields for a reservoir, the week’s arithmetic is the clearest signal yet that the state intends to settle its debt before the water rises.
