Suspicions over fire in TTD Admin building

Tirupati/Vijayawada: A new trend of burning files is being witnessed in the state. It all began with the burning of some files related to Heritage soon after the change of government, then there was a case of burning of files related to land acquisitions and registrations in Madanapalle, where 2,400 files were destroyed.

Similarly, some files related to the Irrigation department and PCB in Vijayawada and Tourism department in Gollapudi and documents of the Polavaram administrative office in Rajamahendravaram were set on fire.

The latest incident of fire is in the TTD Admin building. The alliance partners, including TDP leaders and some officials, also feel that unless there is some demonstrative action, such acts may not end soon. On Saturday night, a fire incident took place in the chamber of a deputy executive engineer at the TTD Administrative Building. This gains importance in the wake of recent actions taken by the state Vigilance department against certain engineering department staff.

Officials claim that the fire took place due to lamps lit during a routine puja ritual. TTD CV&SO S Sreedhar and Chief Engineer Nageswara Rao said the organisation operates with an e-office system, ensuring that all engineering-related files and records are stored securely online.

While the incident is under investigation by both the Tirupati East police and the TTD vigilance wing, Tirupati MLA Arani Srinivasulu visited the TTD Administrative Building, where officials showed him video footage of the fire.

He said timing of the fire raises several doubts – following the issuance of several Vigilance department notices particularly since the files burnt are related to bypass roads. BJP leader G Bhanu Prakash Reddy also voiced his concern, noting that ‘entire AP politics are revolving around file-fire-fire engines’. He criticised the TTD for not taking adequate precautions to prevent such incidents. Bhanu Prakash demanded the implementation of a comprehensive fire safety system to protect all files and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

A situation arose in which police security had to be provided for several files run by the previous government. The previous rulers have looted the public money completely and now resorting to such incidents which are causing distress, he felt. Jana Sena Tirupati in-charge Kiran Royal raised doubts behind the fire incident.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Kiran displayed the charred wires to the media, demanding immediate action to cleanse the TTD. He called for a thorough investigation into the incident and urged the authorities to identify and give stringent punishment to those responsible for the arson.