Andhranews

Guntur, Aug. 9: Lawyers of the district have decided to intensify their stir against superintendent of police S. Ranga Reddy for making derogatory comments against them.

They filed a defamation case against the SP before chief judicial magistrate Vijay Kumar and decided to continue their boycott of courts until action was taken against him. The Guntur Bar Association called upon lawyers across the State to boycott courts on Monday to express solidarity with the agitation.

What irked the lawyers was the SP’s speech at an awareness meeting for political parties in Mangalagiri wherein he reportedly asked people to be wary of lawyers “who will rip off your assets in the guise of court cases”.

Mr. Brahmananda Reddy, member of the State Bar Council, told this correspondent that the lawyers’ stir should not be seen as a tussle with a police officer. “The SP’s comments strike at the root of the judiciary and smack of arrogance,” he said.

Lawyers had sent copies of VCDs containing the SP’s speech to the Bar Associations across the State in the last one week. Interestingly, Mr Ranga Reddy also criticised the police in his speech. He warned the leaders of the village not to instigate political tensions since it would necessitate police ‘counselling’ which would “put you in bed for six months.”

The SP’s candid admission that the district police dormitory was a torture chamber also attracted the attention of the State Human Rights Commission. Despite protest by lawyers, Mr Reddy justified his speech and said that he had made it in public interest. A meeting between the SP and the officebearers of the Bar association did not yield any results either.

Kaligiri, Aug. 9: At least 20 houses were burnt in a mysterious fire at Ananthapuram village in Kaligiri mandal of Nellore district late on Tuesday night. With most menfolk out of the village guarding their fields, womenfolk could not do much to protect their valuables since the fire spreading rapidly.

According to information, political rivalry between two groups owing allegiance to the Congress is suspected. While 17 houses which were destroyed belonged to the Yadava community, three were owned by Reddys. Victims alleged that supporters of a defeated ward member set fire to their houses.

People woke up from deep sleep only to find their houses in fire, following an alarm raised by a woman Sampoornamma. Village elder M. Venkat Reddy alerted officials and the fire office in Vinjamur. In a vain bid, residents tried to put out the fire. All 20 houses were burnt to ashes even before the arrival of fire fighting units from Vinjamur.

Besides valuables, paddy stored in the houses was also gutted. Preliminary estimates put the value of the loss at Rs 18 lakh. Meanwhile, Kavali MLA Magunta Parvathamma rushed to the village on Wednesday, consoled the victims and promised to take rehabilitation measures. She offered Rs 1,000 each to the affected families.

Meanwhile, in yet another fire accident, at least 14 houses are gutted and property worth Rs 7 lakhs was destroyed at Mufthapuram village in Atmakur mandal on Wednesday. Spark from a kitchen are suspected to be the casue of the fire.

Anantapur, Aug. 9: The cloud seeding failed to come in handy for the district, though it is being taken up for the past two years. Though the rest of the State is facing heavy rains and floods, the Rayalaseema districts failed to get even a drop of rain, throwing the farmers of the region in deep distress.

The specialists in agriculture have made it clear that the cloud seeding would not serve any purpose in the drought-hit region.
They said that the cloud seeding may provide employment from some people but it would not serve any purpose for farmers, they added.

District collector Cadmiel Dasari inspected the site allocated for the cloud seeding on Wednesday, but failed to get a green signal from the government to undertaking the job. It may be recalled that the State government had announced that cloud seeding works would begin from August 15 and the farmers are eagerly awaiting rains. However, in the absence of right signals from the government, they are unsure of rains with the help of cloud seeding.

Farmers sowed groundnut crop in over 4.5 lakh hectares and the entire crop would be lost if there were no rains by August 15, and the delay in cloud seeding threw them in deep depression. Though cloud seeding was taken up in July and August of 2004, it failed to show any effective results. Only 14 mm of rainfall was witnessed in August 2004, which failed to quench the thirst of drought-hit region. The entire district suffered severe drought during that period.

Last year, the cloud seeding was taken up a little early. Though it failed to achieve any tangible success, relatively there was a good normal rainfall and brought respite to the farmers. But the heavy rains had an adverse effect and the entire crop suffered damage.

This year, with no rains in sight, the farmers are eagerly looking at the sky seeking mercy from God. While 21 mm rainfall was recorded in July, 2.6 mm rainfall was noticed in August.

Kaligiri, Aug. 9: At least 20 houses were burnt in a mysterious fire at Ananthapuram village in Kaligiri mandal of Nellore district late on Tuesday night. With most menfolk out of the village guarding their fields, womenfolk could not do much to protect their valuables since the fire spreading rapidly.

According to information, political rivalry between two groups owing allegiance to the Congress is suspected. While 17 houses which were destroyed belonged to the Yadava community, three were owned by Reddys. Victims alleged that supporters of a defeated ward member set fire to their houses.

People woke up from deep sleep only to find their houses in fire, following an alarm raised by a woman Sampoornamma. Village elder M. Venkat Reddy alerted officials and the fire office in Vinjamur. In a vain bid, residents tried to put out the fire. All 20 houses were burnt to ashes even before the arrival of fire fighting units from Vinjamur.

Besides valuables, paddy stored in the houses was also gutted. Preliminary estimates put the value of the loss at Rs 18 lakh. Meanwhile, Kavali MLA Magunta Parvathamma rushed to the village on Wednesday, consoled the victims and promised to take rehabilitation measures. She offered Rs 1,000 each to the affected families.

Gudur, Aug. 9: Two woman employees of Gudur municipality came to blows in the office on Wednesday morning. One of them lodged a complaint with police against the other.

Trouble has been brewing in the civic body after the ACB raid on the office on July 31. It may be recalled that 150 employees of the Municipality boycotted duties on Tuesday, demanding transfer of a building inspector Manjulamma, blaming her for the raid.

In this backdrop, G-1 clerk Manjulakumari, who allegedly received the bribe from Ms Manjulamma’s relative, pounced on the building inspector, and pushed her out of the office when she came to attend duty on Wednesday morning. She said they were unable to perform their duties because of the building inspector.

A fisticuff ensued between them. Ms Manjulamma lodged a complaint with Gudur One Town police against Ms Manjulakumari. The staff in the civic body denied any such incident happened when police held an enquiry.

Interestingly, municipal regional deputy commissioner P. Karuna Chandrababu and regional deputy director of town planning R. Vijayabhaskar Reddy were present in the office when the incident took place. They came to review the situation in the office, following a strike by employees on Tuesday.

The employees told the senior officials that they would not attend duties if Ms Manjulamma continued to attend duty. The ugly incident took place after the inquiry by senior officials. Meanwhile, Gudur Municipal chairperson Yaram Manjula demanded immediate transfer of three employees of the civic body, alleging that they were responsible for the imbroglio in the body.

In an obvious reference to the two woman staff involved in Wednesday’s incident and a senior official of the body, she said that all three of them should be sent out to cleanse the municipality.

Ongole, Aug 9: As per the directives given by the RBI, the Ongole Urban Co-operative Bank panel has decided to downsize staff, in order to save the bank from bankruptcy. The Ongole Urban Bank is the oldest bank in the district with a history of 100 years and has over 14,000 depositors. The Urban Bank has been facing crises for the past two-and-a-half years, and the RBI also imposed a partial moratorium on repayments of deposits to customers.

Now, 40 employees, mostly at the clerical level, are working in the Urban Bank. The bank panel has decided to sack 17 employees who were last recruited. By terminating these surplus staff the bank can save salaries to the tune of Rs. 17 lakh per annum.

Speaking to this correspondent on Wednesday, Malempati Krishna Rao, chairman, Urban Bank, said that the RBI had given clear instructions to cut staff in order to save the bank from plunging into further losses.

As per RBI instructions, one employee is sufficient for every Rs. 3 crore deposit. The bank has Rs. 22 crore deposits. Hence an eight member staff is sufficient to run the bank. The bank also gave advances of Rs. 22 crore.

As the RBI has imposed a partial moratorium, the deposits are still with the bank. It is learnt that the RBI is likely to lift the moratorium on repayments by the end of August 2006. If this happens, a huge number of depositors will withdraw deposits and this will ultimately weaken the financial situation of the bank.

Urban Bank chairman Krishna Rao said that there was an urgent need to mobilise more deposits and downsize staff to save the bank and secure the interests of depositors. The bank spends a lion’s share of Rs. 37 lakh on salaries every year. Rs 17 lakh thus saved would definitely strengthen the financial condition of the bank, said Mr Krishna Rao.

Over 18,000 shareholders are worried for the past two-and-a-half years as the bank plunged into a crisis when it deposited Rs. 2.87 crore with the Charminar Bank, which became bankrupt. Later, the RBI also imposed a moratorium on repayments to depositors. However, the new panel which assumed power in 2004, drastically reduced losses. Bank staff collected Rs.31 crore dues from customers.

Gudur, Aug. 9: Two woman employees of Gudur municipality came to blows in the office on Wednesday morning. One of them lodged a complaint with police against the other.

Trouble has been brewing in the civic body after the ACB raid on the office on July 31. It may be recalled that 150 employees of the Municipality boycotted duties on Tuesday, demanding transfer of a building inspector Manjulamma, blaming her for the raid.

In this backdrop, G-1 clerk Manjulakumari, who allegedly received the bribe from Ms Manjulamma’s relative, pounced on the building inspector, and pushed her out of the office when she came to attend duty on Wednesday morning. She said they were unable to perform their duties because of the building inspector.

A fisticuff ensued between them. Ms Manjulamma lodged a complaint with Gudur One Town police against Ms Manjulakumari. The staff in the civic body denied any such incident happened when police held an enquiry.

Interestingly, municipal regional deputy commissioner P. Karuna Chandrababu and regional deputy director of town planning R. Vijayabhaskar Reddy were present in the office when the incident took place. They came to review the situation in the office, following a strike by employees on Tuesday.

The employees told the senior officials that they would not attend duties if Ms Manjulamma continued to attend duty. The ugly incident took place after the inquiry by senior officials. Meanwhile, Gudur Municipal chairperson Yaram Manjula demanded immediate transfer of three employees of the civic body, alleging that they were responsible for the imbroglio in the body.

In an obvious reference to the two woman staff involved in Wednesday’s incident and a senior official of the body, she said that all three of them should be sent out to cleanse the municipality.

Ongole, Aug. 9: B. Ramarao, DRO and secretary of the district Official Language Implementation Committee (OLIC) said that efforts were on to make administrative correspondence in Telugu only in all the government departments.

Mr Ramarao presided over a meeting conducted by OLIC at the Prakasam Bhavan conference hall on Wednesday. Members of the OLIC attended the review meet, which was held for the first time in the district.

Addressing the gathering, the DRO said that officials were trying to make administrative correspondence in Telugu only so that common people could understand the activities of the government. He added that officials were rejecting files prepared in English. He recalled that officials were replying only in Telugu to people during grievances day.

Slogans highlighting the significance of Telugu would be put on display in all the government offices and schools, Mr Ramarao said.
Officials will allot some mandals to Official Language Implementation Committee members to monitor the implementation of Telugu in government offices there. Administrative officer Mr Ramalingeswara Rao also participated in the meet.

Ongole, Aug 9: As per the directives given by the RBI, the Ongole Urban Co-operative Bank panel has decided to downsize staff, in order to save the bank from bankruptcy. The Ongole Urban Bank is the oldest bank in the district with a history of 100 years and has over 14,000 depositors.

The Urban Bank has been facing crises for the past two-and-a-half years, and the RBI also imposed a partial moratorium on repayments of deposits to customers. Now, 40 employees, mostly at the clerical level, are working in the Urban Bank. The bank panel has decided to sack 17 employees who were last recruited. By terminating these surplus staff the bank can save salaries to the tune of Rs. 17 lakh per annum.

Speaking to this correspondent on Wednesday, Malempati Krishna Rao, chairman, Urban Bank, said that the RBI had given clear instructions to cut staff in order to save the bank from plunging into further losses.

As per RBI instructions, one employee is sufficient for every Rs. 3 crore deposit. The bank has Rs. 22 crore deposits. Hence an eight member staff is sufficient to run the bank. The bank also gave advances of Rs. 22 crore.

As the RBI has imposed a partial moratorium, the deposits are still with the bank. It is learnt that the RBI is likely to lift the moratorium on repayments by the end of August 2006. If this happens, a huge number of depositors will withdraw deposits and this will ultimately weaken the financial situation of the bank.

Urban Bank chairman Krishna Rao said that there was an urgent need to mobilise more deposits and downsize staff to save the bank and secure the interests of depositors. The bank spends a lion’s share of Rs. 37 lakh on salaries every year. Rs 17 lakh thus saved would definitely strengthen the financial condition of the bank, said Mr Krishna Rao.

Over 18,000 shareholders are worried for the past two-and-a-half years as the bank plunged into a crisis when it deposited Rs. 2.87 crore with the Charminar Bank, which became bankrupt. Later, the RBI also imposed a moratorium on repayments to depositors. However, the new panel which assumed power in 2004, drastically reduced losses. Bank staff collected Rs.31 crore dues from customers.

Gudur, Aug. 9: Police suspect that a State-wide sex racket is operating from Gudur, following the arrest of minor girls belonging to Vizag at a brothel run by Karri Vijaya of Gudur. Four people, including a municipal councillor of Gudur, were booked in a brothel case by Gudur police led by CI Venkateswar Rao late on Tuesday night.

According to information, the CI found two men and a woman in a compromising position at Challakaluva near Manubolu village while he was returning from Manubolu on Tuesday night. They were apprehended by the CI and his team immediately. The men have been identified as M. Narayanaraju and T. Bhaskar of Nayudupet and the woman as Rajakumari, 17, of Kancharapalem in Vizag.

They revealed that a woman belonging to Gandhinagar in Gudur is operating a sex racket. On the basis of the information provided by them, police raided the house and arrested the kingpin of the racket, Karri Vijaya. Police also booked a case against civic body TD councillor Ummadi Venkateswarlu who was present in the house.

The minor girl, Rajakumari told police that she was lured into the trade by a woman, Bujji of Kancharapalem. The CI said that the minor girl was hired with a promise by Vijaya to pay Rs 6,000 for 10 days.
Police also registered cases against Bujji and Ruthi of Akkayapalem in Vizag who are also involved in the racket.

The CI said that they would also book a case against Rajakumari after her age was confirmed in the test which is being done at Tirupati.

Amalapuram, Aug. 9: Flaying the Congress government for its failure to provide adequate relief to flood victims, Telugu Desam supremo and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the Centre declare the Godavari floods, affecting hundreds of villages and displacing lakhs of people, as a national calamity.

Speaking to newsmen on Wednesday during his visit to the flood-affected areas in the Konaseema region, Mr Naidu faulted the government for being indifferent in providing relief to flood victims who lost their properties.

Referring to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the Kona-seema region, he said that it was of no value and added that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Union agriculture minister should make a visit to find out the quantum of damage caused by floods in the State.

Recalling how he camped in the Konaseema region for a week during 1996 when a hurricane affected the region, Mr Naidu said that the administration was instructed to carry out relief operations on a large scale. Maintaining that the government was able to provide concession to industrialists, he found fault with it for imposing sanctions in distribution of relief.

Rajahmundry, Aug. 9: Godavari flood victims, especially from the Kona-seema region, failed to get any assurances from the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi during her whirlwind visit to the East God-avari district on Wednesday.

Over 8,000 flood victims from in and around Amalapuram town are being accommodated at a relief camp set up at S.K.B.R College in the town. Anticipating her arrival with high expectations that she would give assurances for a house site or a house and other benefits, they were disappointed when she did not make any promises. She only enquired if they were being taken care of by the State government.

The UPA chairperson, accompanied by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, State Congress affairs incharge Digvijay Singh and Union ministers Dasari Narayana Rao, Pallam Raju, Renuka Choudhary, State ministers and scores of legislators arrived at the relief centre.

District officials barricaded the area and allowed only a select few to wait at the barricades to interact with the UPA chairperson. She approached the waiting people, shook hands with them and enquiried whether they were getting any relief from the government.

A flood victim, N. Sita Ratnam from Gurturivaripalem, affected due to breach to the Godavari bund at Sanepallilanka said, “When madam enquired about relief arrangements, we asked for houses. That’s it. There was no assurance from her.”

Kakinada, Aug. 9: Floods after the cyclone have affected 456 villages in East Godavari district. In total, 3.48 lakh people were affected in 60 mandals.

According to district revenue officer M.Suryanara-yana, 3.07 lakh people were rehabilitated in 115 camps throughout the district. As per reports reaching the district headquarters, the loss of livestock is 88. Due to floods, 46 ordinary boats and 11 mechanised boats capsized in the flood waters. To take healthcare to the affected people, 75 medical teams were pressed into service.

In addition, 71 mobile medical teams and 447 para-medical teams are also catering to the needs of people. In addition to this, 44,000 chlorine tablets were supplied to various mandals to protect people from water contamination and to avoid water-borne diseases.

In total, six helicopters were put into use by the State government to drop food packets and look after relief operations in East and West Godavari and neighbouring districts. Two teams of naval divers are in the Konaseema area to assist the district administration.

In all, 5.30 lakh water packets were supplied to the flood affected. According to the DRO, the loss estimated in the district as per preliminary reports was estimated to be Rs 100 crores. Meanwhile district collector M. Subrahmanyam, joint collector C. Sudarshana Reddy and relief commissioner M.V.P. C. Sastry are camping in Amalapruram division and monitoring relief operations.

Warangal, Aug. 9: District collector K. Damayanti on Wednesday said that the estimated loss due to the recent rain havoc in the district was Rs 75.29 crores.

Interestingly, there was no mention about the loss caused due to the washout of the Gundlavagu project, which got totally washed away due to the overflowing of Gundlavagu rivulet.Besides the Rs 11.5 crores actual construction cost of the project the damage it had caused to the tribal hamlets down the stream due to its washout was immense.

The preliminary estimates indicate that the overall loss caused by the project was more than Rs 50 crores. Scores of electric transformers, livestock, houses and other material in the tribal thandas under the project got washed away, while hundreds of people were displaced due to the project washout.

The collector explained that the district administration had no jurisdiction to recommend action against the contractor of the project as the irrigation department had already ordered an inquiry into the project washout.

The major irrigation department had its own quality control wing and the district administration would have no jurisdiction in the quality control affairs and to fix the responsibility for the Gundlavagu project fiasco.

Addressing a press meet at her chambers on Wednesday evening, the collector said that some special agricultural teams were formed to estimate the crop loss. She said that five mandals — Eturnagaram, Govindraopet, Mangapet, Tadwai and Mulug Ghanpur —suffered heavy losses in the recent rains in the district, which registered a rainfall of 139 mm and 142 mm respectively on August 4 and 5.

The total number of deaths due to the rains was six and the number of houses damaged was 2,210 and presently a total of 13 relief camps were being organised for the rain victims.

The collector said that special medical camps were being held across the district to prevent the outbreak of the epidemics and special medical teams were formed for the purpose. District revenue officer Vittal, Warangal Municipal Corporation additional commissioner Prasad Singh and others were present.

Nizamabad, Aug. 9: The Telugu Desam alleged that district ministers — D. Srinivas and Shabbir Ali — had failed to apprise Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy of the loss caused due to heavy rains in the district, who failed to announce any relief for the district during his tour on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, TD leaders V.G. Goud, V. Mohan Reddy and Azar Kishan Rao said that district ministers and officials had failed to explain to the Chief Minister about the gravity of flood situation in the district.

They said that the Chief Minister, who conducted a review meet with ministers and officials for two hours here on Tuesday, had failed to announce any relief. The Telugu Desam leaders said that the district ministers should prepare a comprehensive report on flood loss and pay Rs 5,000 per acre as compensation to farmers, who suffered crop loss.

They also demanded payment of Rs 2 lakhs as ex gratia to each family, who lost a family member in the floods, and supply of seeds to farmers on subsidy. It would provide succour to the flood-hit people, they added. Corporator Babanna, city Telugu Desam general secretary Raji Reddy, Prabhu, Nagi Reddy and others were present.

Vijayawada, Aug. 9: The officials in the district, who heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday as the water level in river Krishna began to recede, were on high alert on Wednesday following the release of 4.89 lakh cusecs of water from Nagarjunasagar.

The irrigation officials released 4.89 lakh cusecs of water from Sagar on Wedn-esday evening which is expected to reach Prakasam Barrage by Thursday evening. This had forced the officials to keep the victims in the relief camps for a few more days as the situation is stated to be the same.

Though there is not much of inflows to the river from its tributaries, the heavy discharge of water at Nagarjunasagar had caused panic among the officials here. The increasing inflows into the river is likely to be more in the next two days which would mean that the officials would have to continue the relief camps till August 13.

District collector Navin Mittal, who reviewed the flood situation with the officials of irrigation and panchayat raj departments, instructed the officials to retain the victims in the camps.

Three of a family from Chandarlapadu mandal were washed away while they were collecting sand from the river at Chevitikallu village. The officials also provided guards at all the river points in the villages, particularly in the upstream.

“Gareeb ke liye maddat karenge” is the assurance made by UPA chairperson and AICC president Sonia Gandhi to the flood vicitms of Godavari in Bhadrachalam division on Wednesday. Ms Gandhi asked the district collector Sasibhushan Kumar to extend all the assistance to them.

She received representations from the people of the village.
Union minister for home Shivraj Patil, Union minister of state for coal mines Dasari Narayana Rao and others accompanied Ms Gandhi. All the victims residing in relief camps expressed happiness over her visit.

After she landed in a helicopter, AICC secretary P. Sudhakar Reddy received her and presented a photo album on the services done by the Youth Congress activists in the flood-affected areas. She watched it for a while and asked them to continue such servive in these areas. The district administration made elaborate arrangements for her visit. She was accompanied by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

Guntur, Aug. 9: To enhance tobacco exports to Russia, the Tobacco Board has proposed to set up a cigarette company in that country as a joint venture. Sources said that top officials of the union commerce ministry are discussing the proposal with their Russian counterparts.

It may be recalled that the tobacco traders of Guntur had amassed huge money through exports to the former Soviet Union. The links were so strong that some of the traders were even holding positions in the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society.

There were also allegations that the traders had an unholy nexus with the bureaucrats of the Kremlin.However, the collapse of the Soviet Union badly affected the fortunes of Guntur tobacco. Governments which came into power in Russia after the collapse of Soviet Union kept the Guntur tobacco traders at arm’s length.

After snapping of links with India, Russia had increased tobacco trade with Zimbabwe and China. Following relentless effo-rts by Indian bureaucrats, India was finally able to export some tobacco to Russia, which is very meagre when compared to the days of yore.
It is to bring back the good old days that the Tobacco Board put forward the proposal to establish a cigarette company in Russia with the help of Indian Tobacco Company.

Tobacco Board in-charge chairman J. Suresh Babu said that there was need to focus on exports since the Centre was determined to curb the use of tobacco within the country. “Our Russian venture is meant to increase the quantum of exports,” he added.

Vijayawada, Aug. 9: AICC president Sonia Gandhi made a transit halt at the Gannavaram airport on Wednesday as she arrived in the State to take a look at the flood-affected areas of Krishna and Godavari rivers.

The AICC president landed at the Gannavaram airport along with Union ministers Shivraj Patil, Renuka Chowdary and Dasari Narayana Rao and AICC secretary Digvijay Singh. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who arrived earlier, received the AICC president and the Central ministers at the airport. Before boarding a helicopter, the AICC president also took a brief look at the photo exhibition organised by the Krishna district administration.

Mr Rajasekhar Reddy and district collector Navin Mittal explained the damage caused by the floods in Krishna, Khammam, West Godavari and East Godavari districts. Chief Minister’s principal secretary Jannat Hussain also explained in detail the extent of damage caused to the people along the two rivers spread over four districts.

The AICC president also had her breakfast at the Gannavaram airport before she left for Bhardachalam to meet the flood victims. Sources told this correspondent that the AICC president had promised to lobby with the Central government for greater help to support the flood victims.

Bhadrachalam (Khammam), Aug. 9: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who completed her visit to Bhadrachalam within 45 minutes, helped instill confidence among the flood victims.

All the victims residing in relief camps expressed happiness over her visit. After she landed in a helicopter, AICC secretary P. Sudhakar Reddy received her and presented a photo album on the services done by the Youth Congress activists in the flood-affected areas.

She watched it for a while and asked them to continue such servive in these areas. The district administration made elaborate arrangements for her visit. She was accompanied by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

K. Payamma, a woman in the relief camp, said that she was happy over Ms Gandhi’s gesture. She said that soothing words from such a leader helped forget her woes at least for some time.

In Mothe, the victims raised slogans in praise of Ms Gandhi and invited her to their houses. Many victims asked for pucca houses in the upland area and wanted the bund in Burgumpahad area be expanded. She advised Mr Sudhakar Reddy to distrubute clothes to the flood-hit.

Bhadrachalam (Khammam), Aug. 9: “Every time there is flood, we lose everything we have. Our life begins again from zero,” 35-year old Akkala Devi of Subhash Nagar told Congress president Sonia Gandhi who made a lightning visit of flood-hit areas on Wednesday.

Devi, who has been taking shelter at the relief camp at the local government junior college at the temple town, was among a few survivors of the floods who could speak directly to Mrs Gandhi. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy acted as the translator.

Tears rolling down her eyes, Devi told Mrs Gandhi: “We spend a week or so in the relief camps and come back only to see our damaged houses.” She asked Mrs Gandhi for a permanent house, a flood control bank and financial help to restore their lives. Her mood lightened up after narrating her troubles to Mrs Gandhi.

“Anta peddollu ekkuva maatladaru. Aame maa baadhalu vinnaru. Sahayam chestanani chepparu. Maaku aa maata chalu (Such big people will not talk much. She listened and promised us to help. That is enough for us),” Devi told this correspondent.

Imam Bi told Mrs Gandhi that the town did not have proper drainage and water was stagnating on roads. “One big rain maroons several streets and colonies in the town. Do something and save us,” she requested Ms Gandhi.

Unmindful of the slush caused due to the flooding, the AICC president made her way through nodding to all those who tried to speak to her.
She promised them that both the Centre and the State would give them the maximum possible help. She acknowledged greetings from the people and at times used gestures to break the language barrier. She frequently asked children by gestures whether they had food to eat.

Mrs Gandhi then drove to Mothe village which is six kilometres from Bhadrachalam, stopping on the roadside where she found flood victims taking shelter.

She walked into the tents and consoled the people there even as she touched all those who reached out their hand to her. Later, she visited the relief camp at Mothe and spoke to the people. Talluri Seethamma requested Mrs Gandhi for permanent houses away from the river, and for supply of drinking water.

The Chief Minister, who translated her request for Mrs Gandhi, told the woman that the State government would take care of their problems and give them permanent houses. Mrs Gandhi gave a patient hearing to Meka Rani, Lakavath Mangatayaru and Sriramulu who were physically handicapped. She even held Meka Rani’s hand for some time.

“We don’t want to leave our homes every time the river gets floods. We want a permanent solution,” they told her as she nodded. Despite a drizzle, Mrs Gandhi walked through the house of Dasari Muthyalu and watched the overflowing river, the marooned houses and fields.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 9: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has decided to file a case and prosecute a city-based doctor for employing a sanitary worker for cleaning his septic tank.
It was during his routine inspection of the city on Wednesday, municipal commissioner N. Srikanth saw a sanitary worker under Subhram scheme working in a septic tank in the house said to be owned by a doctor.

When enquired, the worker told the commissioner that he was employed as a contract worker under Subhram scheme to clean the streets in ward No. 21 but due to sickness, he applied for leave. Instead of resting at home, he agreed to clean the tank for Rs 50.

The commissioner told his accompanying officials to file case against the owner of the house as it was violative of Section 70 of the Public Health Act. As per the Act, the cleaning of septic tank should be done with machines and not human beings.

The officials are proposing to file the case on Thursday. In another case, the commissioner ordered suspension of bill collector L. Suryanarayana alias Lekkala Suryanarayana for not disposing of a tax case against a leading hotel located in Jagadamba junction.

During his last visit, the commissioner checked the property tax documents of the hotel and found irregularities. The hotel also encroached upon the footpath. The commissioner then asked Suryanarayana to collect the tax arrears.

Following his orders, the bill collector sent a notice to the hotel which in turn filed a reply seeking time. But the reply was neither was disposed of nor the tax was collected. Fuming with anger he ordered immediate suspension of the bill collector and pulled up deputy commissioner of revenue Sai Srikanth for the laxity.

The commissioner made an extensive tour of the city during the day. At Kotha Road junction in the old city area he received complaints from the residents that the street lights were not working. Srikanth slapped a fine of Rs 800 on the contractor and asked the officials to collect the amount from the concerned AE if the contractor failed to pay the amount.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 9: Sri Venkateswaraswamy Vari Kalyanotsavam was held here Wednesday with fervour and gaiety.
Kalayanotsavam was organised at the city’s Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Kalayanamandapam in MVP Colony.

Around 600 couples and another 400 devotees participated in the programme and took blessings from the Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati. The TTD Kalyanamandapam reverberated with the chanting of vedic hymns and Sri Venkateswara namams.

The Kalyanotsavam was held on the occasion of the Sravana Pournami. The star of the day Sravanam being the Lord Balaji’s birth star, the day gained importance. Devotees were given Raksha Kavachams on the occasion.

Organisers distributed free books to the participants informing the importance of Sravana Pournami. Sri Ranganadha Charyulu, priest from Tirumala performed the pujas to the Utsava Murthulu. The Superintending Engineer of the TTD from Tirupati, K. Koteswara Rao and other officials took part.

Visakhapatmam, Aug. 9: The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority is still ready to take up another museum on the lines of INS Kursura submarine museum on the beach road.

Earlier, the Eastern Naval Command had proposed to set up a landing ship but as there was no response from BOT operators the idea was dropped. Vice-chairman of Vuda G. Venkataram Reddy, who was the chief guest at the fourth anniversary celebrations of INS Kursura museum here on Wednesday, told a meeting that the Vuda had written to the naval authorities that it was ready to take up a decommissioned warship for the purpose of setting up of a museum.

This would be done on a BOT basis, he added. Vuda had taken up INS Kurusura as a challenge and made it a landmark on the north coastal Andhra. The museum is also the first of its kind in Asia, he added. So far, 7.85 lakh people visited the museum and efforts were being made to add some more facilities to the visiting public.

An LCD projector would be installed in the process showing activities of navy particularly the submarine operations so that the people could understand more details about the vessel and the men operating it under the sea.

The Soviet-built T-641 class submarine was inducted into the Navy on December 18, 1969 and decomissioned on February 28, 2001 after 31 years of service. It played a major role in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. An amount of Rs 6 crore was spent for hauling the submarine on to the Ramakrishan Beach.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 9: The freedom fighters here are a disappointed lot as they could not attend the 65th anniversary of the Quit India Movement held at Delhi on Wednesday.

The tyagis were delighted when the Visakhapatnam District Freedom Fighters Association got a letter from the President’s office seeking a list of freedom fighters willing to take part in the celebrations. The association duly sent a list.

“I was eager to know what happened to our list. I went to collectorate but no one responded there. I sent a fax to the Rasthrapathi Bhavan. We got a reply asking us to contact local authorities. But no one responded to us here,” association general secretary K Appa Rao said.

Bobbili (Vizianagaram), Aug. 9: Police on Wednesday questioned ragging victim Rajendra as well as the names mentioned in the complaint lodged by the victim’s father.

The three names — K. Gautam, M. Ashok Kumar and Harish — mentioned in the complaint are Rajendra’s classmates. The other three — Rajesh, Ramesh and Atchyut — are not seniors but are Intermediate students residing in the same Korada street where Rajendra lives.

The students told the police that Rajendra touched the electrical wires out of curiosity. Meanwhile, the college authorities have denied the reports of ragging.