Andhranews

Kurnool, Sept. 16: The ensuing visit of the All-India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi may be embroiled in a controversy. It is alleged that a section of Congress leaders are not keen on the success of Mrs Gandhi’s visit. It may be mentioned that Mrs Gandhi is visiting the district on September 27 to inaugurate the Kisan Ghat constructed on the banks of Handri river in memory of former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and a park. After inaugurating the Kisan Ghat she is expected to participate in a public meeting here.

However, rumours are do-ing rounds that many distri-ct Congress leaders are tur-ning a blind eye towards the arrangements as if it is the responsibility of Kurnool MP Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy to make the public meeting a success. Especially, those who differ with the Kurnool MP are showing disinterest on Mrs Gandhi’s interest. District minister M. Mareppa and a majority of MLAs are not in good terms with Mr Suryaprakash Reddy.

Recognising this, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had sent district in-charge minister Konathala Ramakrishna to set things right, but to no avail, it is learnt. Mr Ramakrishna is not able to garner support of the Congress leaders for mobilising crowds to Mrs Gandhi’s public meeting. Ironically, Mr Mareppa, Nandyal MP S.P.Y. Reddy and five MLAs were conspicuous by their absence at the meeting. It is learnt that they abstai-ned from the meeting due to the differences they had with Mr Reddy.

There is another talk that Mrs Gandhi’s visit would benefit only the Kotla family, others are not enthusiastic over the programme.
Mr Reddy is facing a charge that he had failed in garnering the support of Congress leaders in the district. At the same time, he is unable to get the support of Congress leaders even in his constituency.

Moreover, the Congress MLAs are differing over the choice of place for the public meeting. While a majority of leaders including the district superintendent of police favoured the APSP II Battalion ground, Mr Suryaprakash Reddy is firm on holding the meeting in STBC grounds.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 16: Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham president and former MLA from Anantapur, K. Ramakrishna on Saturday criticised the State government’s policy on acquiring lands belonging to farmers for the proposed Outer Ring Road (ORR) project in Hyderabad.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Ramakrishna said that most of the displaced persons due to the land acquisition for ORR were farmers. He demanded that the government adopt ‘land for land’ policy while paying compensation to the farmers. “Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had assured in the Assembly that the government will stop acquiring lands for the ORR and also said that a Cabinet sub-committee would be appointed to look into all the issues relating to the ORR, including the land acquisition. But to our surprise the State government had released a notification for further land acquisition,” he said.

Mr Ramakrishna came down heavily on the government saying that it was taking all the lands belonging to farmers without paying adequate compensation in the name of development of special economic zones and industrial corridors. The farmers’ leader pointed out that around 1,500 farmers committed suicide after the Congress government under Dr Rajasekhar Reddy came to power two-and-a-half-years ago. “Nowhere in the country have so many farmers committed suicide like in Andhra Pradesh.

But the AP government still claims theirs is a farmers’ friendly government. If the government is really committed to farmers’ welfare it should wipe off Rs 1 lakh loans which farmers have availed,” he said. The AP Rythu Sangham would devise a strategy to launch an agitation in protest against the alleged anti-farmer policies of the State government at its State council meeting to be held in Tirupati on September 20.

Member of Parliament and president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, K. Chandrappan and general secretary Atul Kumar Anjan would take part in the State council meeting. “We will also discuss about the issues relating to the coconut, groundnut farmers and also the problems faced by the farmers in the drought-hit areas in the State” Mr Ramakrishna said.

Ongole, Sept. 16: About 10 acres land adjacent to the Gundlakamma river diversion channel was eroded due to flash floods near the Gundlakamma river project site in Maddipadu mandal of Prakasam district on Saturday. Owing to heavy rains in the upper reaches of the Gundlakamma river, more than 15,000 cusecs of floodwaters gushed though the river near the project site on Saturday.

As a result, the canal bund eroded causing property loss of Rs 10 lakhs. Chinna Mallavaram villagers are concerned that in case of heavy rain the village would be badly affected by floodwaters. They blame irrigation officials for ignoring their pleas not to construct a diversion channel as sandy soil could not check the flow of water. They suggested that officials release floodwaters near the spillway area. But officials ignored their pleas and preferred the diversion channel.

It is expected that Saturday’s incident would further delay the construction of the project. As the gorge works are underway, irrigation officials have dug the diversion canal to the south of the Mallavaram hill and diverted river water towards the sea. They constructed canal bunds that could withstand flow of 5,000 cusecs of water.

However, on Saturday over 15,000 cusecs of water gushed through the Gundlakamma river. As a result, about 10 acres land was eroded adjacent to China Mallavaram village. Mango, subabul, teak trees and fodder were washed away. Gundlakamma reservoir special deputy collector Sri Latha visited the project site and spoke to project officials. She said that the loss was estimated at Rs 10 lakhs. A total of Rs 1.30 crores was spent for the diversion channel.

Anjan Rao, a villager, criticised officials for ignoring their pleas. Ongole RDO Naga-babu, Veligonda project SE Surya Narayana, special deputy collector, Gundlakamma project Srilatha visited the site and spoke to villagers. They assured compensation to the loss suffered due to flash floods.

Rajahmundry, Sept. 16: Farmers from the upland areas would benefit from the rainfall in the last three days under the influence of a depression in terms of taking up transplantation of paddy during the kharif in areas where floods washed away crops in certain pockets in both East and West Godavari districts.

In East Godavari district, paddy is being grown in about 1.6 lakh hectares in the delta area and over about 50,000 hectares in upland areas. Floods in the Godavari river affected the crops which were in the primary stage over several thousand hectares in the district. Farmers who lost their crops in the floods raised paddy nurseries, especially in Tuni and other areas in the upland.

With the continuous rainfall in the last three days, farmers have taken up transplantation. In other parts of the district like the delta area, paddy crop is at the active tillering stage as of now. It will be premature to predict the yield at this stage. The district received an average rainfall of 16.2 mm on Saturday.

Under the influence of rains and floods, crops over about 30,000 hectares was lost in Amalapuram and some parts of Rampachodavaram divisions. Far-mers in areas like Mamidi-kuduru, Katrenikona and Uppalaguptam suffered crop loss. The government provided seeds at 50 per cent subsidy to the affected farmers, besides input subsidy to the tune of Rs 1,875 per hectare.

The affected farmers managed to take up replantation on about 24,000 hectares and are benefitted immensely with the current rainfall. The government has provided Rs 3,125 per hectare to farmers whose fields suffered sandcast, with about 6,000 hectares affected in the district.

East Godavari agriculture deputy director I. Rama Krishna Murthy said, “In certain areas, farmers have started to raise casuarina as their fields were badly affected. Such farmers can go for early raising of crops for rabi. Farmers in upland areas are being given seeds of pulses and maize at 50 per cent subsidy to help them overcome the crisis.”

The situation is same in West Godavari where farmers from upland mandals will be benefitted with the rainfall. The district registered 492 mm rainfall against the average normal rainfall of 784 mm on Saturday for the season showing some amount of deviation. West Godavari agriculture joint director MR C. Rameswaraiah said, “The current rainfall helps farmers to get rid of Nalli disease to paddy crop.”

Kakinada, Sept. 16: A change in the attitude among farmers and government support has promoted many to take up innovative methods of farming. Under this backdrop, farming under micro-irrigation has gained momentum during the last four years. The basic idea of effective water management, better cultivation for higher returns with less water resources has gained significance.

Irrigation by means of drip, sprinkler and rain gun has gained popularity among farmers, especially from upland areas. In places where there is water shortage and groundwater availability is low, the process is found to be more viable with good financial returns.

The AP Micro Irrigation Project (APMIP) under the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) has taken up the project for farmers in an effective way in East Godavari district since 2003. The process was extended to horticulture, oil palm, agriculture, sugarcane and mulberry in the district in an extent of 6,000 acres in the first phase in November 2003.

It was completed successfully by March 2006. The entire project was financed by Nabard at acost of Rs 5.26 crores. A fresh target of 5,250 acres was taken up for 2006-07 at an estimated cost of Rs 7.80 crores in several mandals. The process was extended even to the delta areas where water is available in abundance when compared to upland areas. This process is being extended depending on water resources and the needs of individual farmers.

DWMA project director, Dr R. Amarendra Kumar, said the focus is on conservation of water resources with effective management. “We extend subsidy to farmers upto 60 per cent on drip and 50 per cent on sprinkler irrigation,” Mr Amarendra Kumar added.

Warangal, Sept. 16: The Warangal municipal corporation (WMC) has come up with a novel scheme, ‘Fund Your City,’ in order to raise money through public contribution for the city development.
The money raised through the contributions from interested individuals and the business groups will be used for the city’s beautification and other developmental activities.

As a first step, various traffic junctions were identified for the beautification and plans are afoot to give a new look to the traffic islands. The Mulug Road Junction was earmarked for beautification in the first phase and a couple of business houses in the city have already responded and contributed funds under the new scheme.

“Beautifying junctions, laying roads, setting up of glow sign boards and even sponsoring the street name display boards were part of the Fund Your City scheme. There is no limit for the contributions from the people,” said municipal commissioner Smita Sabharwal. The main objective is to make the citizens partners in development and make them feel proud about their city.

Talks are also going on with many interested people and shopkeepers regarding the use of their proposed contributions in the city. Initially, it was planned to develop the lower tank bund area of the Waddepally Tank, which is turning out to be an important outing spot in the city. There were also plans to erect foot-over-bridges at busy junctions like Jeevanlal Complex, Chowrastha and other areas to facilitate easy movement of pedestrians.

Many people have already sponsored the signboards which indicate the street names and the lane markings.During the next one month, the projects to be undertaken under the Fund Your City would get a definite shape, municipal officials said.

Karimnagar, Sept. 16: The stage is set for the celebration of the Telangana Liberation Day on Sunday. All the major political parties, including the Congress, CPI, TRS and the BJP have planned separate ceremonies to pay tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives in the Telangana armed struggle for the liberation of the Hyderabad State from the Nizam’s rule. The CPI has already been observing the Telangana Liberation We-ek all over the district from September 11.

Both the TRS and the BJP, which have been spearheading the separate Telangana movement, have proposed to organise different programmes in connection with the Telangana Liberation Day. While, the TRS has planned to conduct a meet at the Telangana martyrs memorial in Karimnagar, the BJP has proposed to organise mandal-level programmes.

The District Congress Committee has decided to hold a meeting at the party office in the morning. The district freedom fighters association will organise a flag hoisting ceremony at Swarajbhavan in the city.

Nizamabad, Sept. 16: Bodhan police busted a women trafficking racket and rescued minor girls belonging to Nizamabad, Anantapur and coastal districts. Police rescued 55 girls from a red light area at Chandrapur of Maharashtra and arrested five organisers, all belonging to Bodhan mandal at Chandrapur.

Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, district superintendent of police Mahesh Chandra Laddha said that Bodhan police had conducted the raids on Friday night with the help of Maharashtra police. “The raids were conducted because a girl, who escaped from the brothel, telephoned the SP’s office on September 14,” he said.
The arrested were identified as Peeru Bai, 60, kingpin of the racket, Vasanth, Krishna, Gangadhar and Lavanya.

The superintendent of Police said that their modus operandi was to visit villages, identify poor girls and trap their parents by giving them false promises of jobs. and later transport them to Chandrapur for trafficking. The organisers would harass the girls, assault them and sprinkle dry chilli powder in their eyes, if the girls refused to coply with their orders.

The Maharashtra police made arrangements to enable the rescued girls to be sent back to their repective native places. The orphan girls will be sent to the Women and Child Welfare Department to rehabilitate them, Mr Laddha said. He said that they suspect the involvement of some more persons in the racket. A special team with five senior police officers has been formed to bust the racket. “We will arrest the other organizers, who are linked to the racket very soon,” the SP said.

Nizamabad, Sept. 16: About 150 farmers of Talla Rampur of Morthad mandal of this district thronged the 33/11 KV sub-station situated on the outskirts of their village and operated the equipment themselves by fixing electric fuses on Saturday morning.

Sources told this correspondent that the farmers reached the sub-station, displaying the dried crops to grill the three APTransco employees present there over irregular power supply. The farmers protested in front of the sub-station for about four hours. They forcibly entered the sub-station and detained the employees there.

On hearing the news, Morthad police arrived there and sub-inspector Rajesh tried to enter the sub-station to release the detained staff, but the farmers locked the gate. Farmers then took electric fuses, fixed these to the sub-station’s board.

Vijayawada, Sept. 16: Members of the newly constituted city Congress committee were sworn in at a ceremony held at Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kalakshetram on Saturday . The city Congress committee was formed almost after a decade to appease the local party cadre by allotting them a suitable place. The strength of the committee finally crossed 230.

Hectic activity was witnessed at the venue as the members, along with their supporters, raised slogans and folk artistes presented a cultural programme. Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of city unit D. Satyanaranayana Rao presided over the function.

City Congress president Pyla Sominaidu said, “The city Congress committee members should work towards bridging the gap between the government officer and the public.” He said, “For instance, we will utilise their services at the government hospital to see that necessary medical care is available to the people. Similarly, they will also publicise the various government schemes to the needy.”

The Congress MLAs, MPs and others asked the newly elected members to take keen interest in highlighting the government schemes. Kankipadu MLA Devineni Rajasekhar Nehru, minister for sports and youth affairs M. Satyanarayana Rao, minister for higher education Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao and local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal were among those who spoke.

Khammam, Sept. 16: Union Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdary lost her temper after being gheraoed by activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU) here on Saturday.

The student activists who assembled at the Road and Buildings guest house were waiting for finance and health minister K. Rosaiah but when Ms Chowdary reached the spot and got down from her car, they surrounded her and started shouting slogans.

Ms Chowdary, who was taken aback, told the student leaders angrily that their behaviour was deplorable and asked them to apologise. “Is it the way to seek justice?” she asked. “I don’t mind if you submit a memorandum but this is not the way to do it,” she added.

But, the irate students ignored her and continued to raise slogans against the government. SFI leader Y. Kishore said that the government was closing down colleges indiscriminately and was denying scholarships to poor students.The angry union minister refused to take a memorandum from the students and reiterated that they should apologise first.

The students, however, raised slogans and insisted that she should take the memorandum. In the end, police had to undertake a mild lathi-charge to make way for the union minister.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 16: Cracking the whip against those theatres which were violating stipulated norms, the district administration has ordered stoppage of screening in five theatres in the city on Saturday. The theatres which were ordered not to screen were Leela Mahal, Poorna Picture Palace, Sri Rama, Sri Suryamahal and Rajkamal.

A team of revenue department officials headed by revenue divisional officer (RDO) M. Venkateswara Rao conducted surprise checks upon 14 theatres. The orders were issued for violating the conditions of B-form licenses and for not providing basic facilities to the cine goers. The RDO said that it was found that the owners of the theatres were not providing drinking water, not maintaining required space between the screen and the first row of seats, selling soft drinks at more than the normal price and have not fixed price board.

“The theatre managements did not fix the meters showing the temperature levels in the halls which is mandatory. We have ordered them to stop screening until further orders. Normally we will give the nod for screening after they rectify the defects detected by us. We will again go to those theatres, check them and will give screening orders,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam Cinema Theatre Owners’ Association has decided to close down all the 125 theatres in the district on Sunday. The move is in protest against the raids on some theatres and subsequent issuance of orders to stop screening of films in five theatres for not providing basic amenities to the spectators. The association members after holding a meeting in the evening informed that the raids were an act of vendetta and demanded that the authorities stop harassing the managements.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 16: Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) chairman B Karunakar Reddy on Saturday denied that propagation of non-Hindu religions was going on the Tirumala Hills.He said some parties are levelling such allegations to gain political mileage, malign the TTD board and tarnish the image of the State government.

Speaking to reporters at Sri Sarada Peetham in China Mushidivada, 20 kms away from here, Mr Reddy said that even the Pejawar seer had complimented the board after going through the steps taken by the TTD to protect the sanctity of Tirumala Hills.

He denied allegations levelled against the TTD, for its inaction in the issues related to non-Hindu religious propaganda in various educational institutions in and around Tirupati, including Sri Venk-ateshwara and Sri Padmavathi Mahila Universities.

Sarada Peetham seer Swamy Swaroopanandendra suggested that the TTD board must provide medical facilities in the tribal areas of the State with the funds intended to construct TTD kalyanamandapams in rural areas.