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Flood bank makes way for AP CM’s house
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) had proposed changes to the flood bank on the southern side of the Krishna river to protect Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s house on the banks of the river.
Vijayawada: The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) had proposed changes to the flood bank on the southern side of the Krishna river to protect Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s house on the banks of the river.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had raised objections over the constructions on the river banks and directed the State Government to clear them. The State Government, last year, had asked the house owners to clear the structures on the river bank.
However, with the Chief Minister occupying one of those buildings for his residence and had set up couple of helipads for his air travels, the CRDA had now proposed to move the flood bank to the river side to avoid the wrath of the NGT.
To achieve this move the State Government is planning to declare the length of the flood bank where the constructions are made, including the Chief Minister’s residence as non-flood bank area. The State Government and the CRDA have suggested a few changes to the existing flood bank that starts from the southern side of Prakasam Barrage and passes through Undavalli, Venkatapalem, Lingayapalem, Uddhandarayunipalem before ending a little away at Rayapudi.
The flood bank was constructed in early 1960s when Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was the Chief Minister. This had protected the villages from frequent floods and since then the lands have become fertile giving multiple crops all through the year.
“We have proposed some changes in the master plan to the alignment of the existing flood bank. It would be diverted at some places to suit to the needs of the new capital,” said Minister for Municipal Administration Dr P Narayana while speaking to The Hans India.
When asked whether the changes were proposed to protect the Chief Minister’s residence on the riverbed, he evaded the question. The changes were proposed as part of the master plan keeping in view the capital requirements, he said.
The Chief Minister is occupying a bungalow on a sprawling 1.25 acres of land in Survey No. 274A in Undavalli, which originally belonged to businessman Lingamaneni Ramesh, who heads Air Costa, the regional airline company, besides the biggest gated community near Acharya Nagarjuna University.
The NGT is taking objections to the State government planning skyscrapers along the river within 200 metres. Reacting to the proposed diversion of the flood bank, environmentalist Pandalaneni Srimannarayana told The Hans India that it was only to regularise the unauthorised constructions on the riverbed where the Chief Minister also lives. “They have no legal sanction for any construction.
The diversion of the bund is only to avoid the NGT wrath. The irony is that the Chief Minister, who is trying to save the unauthorised constructions by diverting the flood bank, is removing over 800 houses at Undavalli by planning a six lane road there,” he quipped.
CPI-M CRDA area secretary Ch Baburao took strong exception to the new alignment for the existing flood bank. He alleged that the government was planning to legalise all illegal constructions along the river.
He wondered what had happened to the notices served to the owners of these illegal buildings and also the promises of Minister for Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao who declared that the government would remove all the illegal constructions on the riverbed.
