Amaravati: National Green Tribunal confirmed mangrove destruction, says Nimmakayala Chinarajappa

Amaravati: TDP politburo member and former deputy chief minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa said that a special team appointed by the National Green Tribunal has confirmed that mangrove forests have been cut down for housing scheme named 'Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki illu' near Dummulapeta in Kakinada.

In a statement here on Thursday, Chinarajappa said that although the evidence was accurate, it was clear now that the district authorities' recent claim that they are not mangrove forests found to be not true. The fact-finding team concluded that the claims made by the district authorities that there were no mangrove forests and that were shrimp ponds were untrue, he said.

"Hundreds of acres of mangroves spread in the region were cut down as adequate government land was not available in Kakinada region for housing scheme. The deforestation of mangroves was known to be a violation of environmental regulations but was not taken into account.

Hundreds of mangrove trees were destroyed and the area was levelled with soil. In this way the violation of environmental protection, forest conservation, and wildlife laws were violated arbitrarily," alleged the former minister.

Referring to NGT's observation on cutting down of 30 per cent of mangroves in the area, Chinarappa demanded that the government respond on this and take action against those responsible for destroying mangroves.