Andhranews

Kadapa, Aug. 27: Suicides have been on the rise in villages in the recent past in the district. Pesticide which is to be used to kill the pests is being used for suicide attempts if one goes by the cases admitted at various hospitals in the district.

For example, Rajiv Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at the district headquarters receives nearly 200 suicide cases a month, while several more cases were registered at the Ruya and Swims in Tirupati. While various reasons were attributed to the suicide attempts, the victim’s relatives were tight-lipped and were reluctant to divulge the actual reasons for the extreme steps.

Efforts were also being made to keep the details of those who were treated under the suicide attempt cases a closely guarded secret. Continuous drought and huge debts were the reasons for suicide in most of the cases.

Most of the suicides were witnessed in Pulivendula constituency represented by the Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and also in Kamalapur, Rayachoti, Lakkireddypalle and Jammalamadugu constituencies. Crops were completely dried up in thousands of acres due to the dry spell. Sources said that the district may witness many more suicides in future if the present drought conditions continue.

Anantapur, Aug. 27: Telugu Desam and CPI (M) activists on Sunday gheroaed minister for agriculture, N. Raghuveera Reddy in protest against the State government’s failure to protect the farmers from the severe drought conditions in Anantapur district.

Activists belonging to the two Opposition parties surrounded the minister when he reached the district headquarters at 7.30 pm on Sunday and questioned him over the government’s failure to respond to the continuos dry spell conditions in the district. The police who were present at the spot tried to disperse the activists. However, some activists laid down on the road and obstructed the minister’s convoy. Mr Raghuveera Reddy got down from the car and tried to pacify the agitators.

The activists said that the farmers’ suicides were on the rise in the recent past and criticised the government for not responding. “No measures were taken to protect the farmers from the debt trap,” they alleged. They demanded that the government take steps which the Congress leaders sought when they were in opposition during the Telugu Desam rule.

Speaking to the agitators, Mr Raghuveera Reddy said that the government is taking all steps to protect the interests of the farmers. “Compensation would be given to the families of the farmers who committed suicide,” the minister assured.

Ongole, Aug. 27: At least 40 huts were completely destroyed and over Rs 30 lakhs worth of property was reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out in Karanam Balarama Colony here on Sunday morning. Owing to the mishap, more than 40 families were rendered homeless. About 150 families, most of them belonging to the weaker sections, had been living in the colony for the past seven years. The joy of Ganesh Chaturthi evaporated in the colony and nearby areas wi-th the mishap. The only consolation for the residents was that no one was hurt.

The fire broke out in the residence of C. Venkat-eswaramma after she lit the lamp for deeparadhana to mark the festival celebrations. When she was cooking rice, the lamp’s fire spread to other parts of the house and later engulfed the adjacent hut belonging to C. Venkateswarlu. An LPG cylinder in the residence of Mr Venkateswarlu exploded and the fire further spread to other huts due to gales. Mr Venkateswarlu and other family members were not present at home.

Local residents immediately alerted the fire and police departments. Fire tenders from Ongole and Tanguturu rushed to the colony. As the roads are very narrow, fire tenders could not reach the spot quickly. Water was also supplied from tankers to put out the flames. The panic- stricken residents had no time to save their belongings, said Mr Madhu, one of the residents of the colony.

He complained that APTransco officials did not shut down power supply though they had telephoned them three times about the fire. Ms Mariyamma, one of the victims, displayed partially burnt currency notes valued at Rs 5,700, which her son had kept in the house to pay to the chits’ customers.

Nellore, Aug. 27: At least 30 thatched houses were destroyed in a fire at Balaji Nagar in Nellore town on Sunday afternoon. Forty families lost shelter due the the mishap. Property worth Rs 30 lakh was gutted, according to preliminary estimates.

Most people were either preparing food or performing Ganesh puja when fire broke out. Nobody sustained injuries in the incident. Locals said that the fire originated from a kitchen and spread to other houses due to heavy winds even before people tried to take preventive steps.

Panic-stricken people ran away from their houses along with gas cylinders and other stuff they could carry with them. As the colony is situated near the CPI(M) office, the Left activists rushed to the place to help the people. Fire fighters contained the flames from spreading to other houses. Town MLA Anam Vivekananda Reddy and SP N. Suryanarayana visited the colony.

Kakinada, Aug. 27: Industrial activity in East Godavari is on the rise with more than Rs 30,000 crores invested in the district in the last couple of years. With both special economic zone activity started and the coastal corridor round the corner, more activity is on the cards in the next few years. With these developments, infrastructure for industrial promotion has gained momentum in the small and medium sectors. According to industrial department sources, 8,236 units are in various stages in the district with an investment of Rs 836 crores.

These are both in the registered and unregistered sectors, providing employment to 1,81,842 people, mostly youth. In this activity, agro industries lead with 625 in the registered category and 1,693 in unregistered category with an investment of Rs 95.26 crores. This sector provides employment to 12,520 people.

The next second major activity is mineral based industrial activity with 575 units in the organised and 2,145 in the unorganised sectors providing employment to 16,703 people. The third place is being occupied by wood products with 2,054 units in both the sectors with an investment of Rs 40.2 crores and providing employment to 10,437 people.

Textile-based industrial activity with 1,314 units in both the sectors provides employment to 9,376 people. Electrical and electronics activity provides employment to 18,552 people. Drug and pharmaceutical units in the organised sector are the lowest employment providers with five units in the organised sector with Rs 90.91 crores investment and employing only 254 people.

The number of paper, printing, glass and ceramics units is growing and they are expected to increase their share in providing employment opportunities. According to District Industries Centre general manager V.R. Vijaya Raghava Naik, the entrepreneurs were being extended all possible help by the department in employment generation and for more development of industrial activity in East Godavari.

Kakinada, Aug. 27: In all, 900 families are to get assistance under the Nati-onal Family Benefit Sch-eme under Rajahmundry Corporation limits. Speaking to presspersons at his residence on Sunday, minister for roads and buil-dings Jakkampudi Rama-mohan Rao said that Rs 45 lakhs were sanctioned by the district administration for this purpose.

He disclosed that each of the families identified under this scheme would be provided assistance to the tune of Rs 5,000. The minister said that Rs 5 crores were sanctioned to the Rajahmundry Corporation for development of a drainage system under the critical infrastructure scheme.

Mr Ramamohan Rao said that the R&B had already sanctioned Rs 5 crores for this purpose and added that drainage facility would be provided in the areas of Bommuru, Hukumpeta and Dowleswaram areas. The minister said the State government had sanctioned Rs 1 crore for development of drains to avoid submergence of residential areas in the city.

The minister said that the amount was in addition to the Rs 1.5 crores sanctioned by the Chief Minister for development activities near Nalla channel. He was sore with the officials for not giving adequate priority for sanctions to flood losses to the R&B department. He said that the loss in the district was estimated to be to Rs 5 crores, but sanction was made only for Rs 1.5 crores.

Warangal, Aug. 27: The city drainages are getting congested by the day, with unabated encroachments along the drainage system.
The drainage system was constructed during the Nizam rule with a good width and open spaces adjoining it. But during the last decade, these have got congested due to various factors. In many places, encroachers took advantage of the absence of proper sidewalls and began encroaching the nalas.

Glaring encroachments are witnessed near LB College, Mulug Road Junction, Shiva Nagar, Naimnagar and Vidyanagar areas. In many cases, the encroachers are public representatives, if not their followers and relatives. Alleged corruption among lower-level field staff is also contributing to the encroachments.

As a result of encroachments over drainage lands and their congestion, flash floods occur every raniny season inundating low-lying areas. The worst affected areas due to the encroachments are Sammaiahnagar, Doordarshan Colony, and Naimnagar in Hanamkonda. In Warangal, Sundaraiahnagar and Shivanagar are some areas that get regularly inundated.

The alleged involvement of corporators and town planning officials in giving their support to encroachers is worsening the situation. Another major factor contributing to the drainage woes in the city is the alleged permissions granted to unauthorised layouts.

Without verifying the location of the land and other aspects related to construction, the authorities have been allegedly giving permissions, thus indirectly encouraging the encroachers. Meanwhile, taking serious note of the nala encroachments, mayor E. Swarna and municipal commissioner Smita Sabharwal have taken up joint visits to look into the problems of encroachments.

The mayor and the commissioner warned town planning and engineering officials of serious disciplinary action if they failed to act against encroachments. They said that in a week, all illegal structures constructed over nala lands would be identified and action would be initiated against the encroachers.

Adilabad, Aug. 27: AP Regional Congress Coordination Committee convenor G. Chinna Reddy was criticised by the artistes and poets of the Telangana region for his recent statements against the demand for a separate Telangana State.

Artistes, singers and poets of Telangana, who organise cultural programmes under the banner of Telangana Dhoom Dham in support of the Telangana State demand, have decided to corner Mr Chinna Reddy through their cultural programmes soon in Wanaparthy constituency of Mahbubnagar district represented by him.

Speaking to this correspondent, Mr Rasamai Balakishan, convenor of the Telangana Dhoom Dham, said that they had decided to expose the double standards of the Congress MLA for his recent statements against the formation of a separate Telangana State. He said that he had never expected such statements from a man who was earlier a strong supporter of Statehood for Telangana.

Adilabad, Aug. 27: The epidemic of viral fevers and chikungunya that have hit the district over the last three months has come in handy for registered medical practitioners (RMPs) in villages. The RMPs are making considerable amounts of money by treating hundreds of patients daily.

They are even treating patients on the condition that medical fees and other expenditure for treatment should be paid in October after the kharif season after selling their crops. Some RMPs who earlier owned only bicycles have now bought motorcycles.

Mr Baburao, an RMP of Indravelli told this correspondent that their daily revenue through treatment had increased considerably in the last three months thanks to viral fevers and chikungunya.Nearly 20,000 patients suffering from various viral fevers and chikungunya are coming to government hospitals and primary health centres every day across the district.

Patients suffering from chikungunya are not in a position to move out as they have joint pains, swelling of legs and hands, and high fever.
The RMPs are visiting interior villages and are treating patients. Viral fevers and chikungunya have gripped villages in Indravelli, Bajarhatnoor, Tiryani, Neredigonda, Sirpur (T), Bejjur, Thanoor, Adilabad, Bela, Jainad, Gudihatnoor, Wankidi, Narnoor and Kerameri. More tribal deaths are reported due to viral fevers and chikungunya as they have lost resistance due to lack of nutritious food. The deaths of nearly 40 people due to viral and chikungunya were reported during the last three months .

Nizamabad, Aug. 27: The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) State Project Office (SPO) has decided to check fraud in attendance of teachers and students through a special device called the personal digital assistance (PDA). This is a palm-sized device which can be carried anywhere.

The State SSA office has chosen 10 districts on a pilot project and distributed these devices by giving special training to mandal resource persons. The SSA State office has allotted 150 devices to Nizamabad district.

The need to use the PDA arose as it became tough for officials working in the education department to find out the actual percentage of attendance of teachers and students. In the State-wide survey, the SSA found out that teachers were not attending to school duties regularly.

They were affixing their signatures in the register and attending to their personal works with the connivance of the headmasters. The survey also revealed that teachers who were also on leave were affixing their signatures. This was leading to the schools getting poor results in the annual exams.

Explaining the functioning of the device, SSA, Nizamabad additional project coordinator Jagadeeswar Goud said that data, including the name of the teacher, school, working place, etc., will be fed into computers with special software. Similarly, details of students studying in all the government schools will also be fed into computers based on the attendance registers.

The mandal resource persons will visit at least two to three schools under his/her jurisdiction along with this device and check attendance. Later, the collected data will be fed into computers installed at the mandal resource centre. District and State-level SSA officials will monitor the status of attendance of teachers and students whenever required.

“We have already computerised data of all schools working in 36 mandals in the computers,” Mr Goud said. The usage of devices will begin from September first week onwards.

Vijayawada, Aug. 27: The widening of the arterial Karl Marx and MG roads would commence soon with the district officials working in coordination with the officials of the Municipal Corporation and the Vijayawada Urban Development Authority (Vuda).

District collector Naveen Mittal, in his recent meeting with the Uda officials and those of other departments, directed them to chalk out plans to ensure the execution of the work. The widening of Karl Marx Road started three years ago and the third phase extension is still pending.

“The citizens too should cooperate with the authorities keeping in mind the development of city. Road-widening gives a facelift to the city and helps avert traffic problems,” the collector said. The officials are also trying to convince Muslim religious leaders about the widening of the Karl Mark Road near the graveyard. The Vuda authorities spoke to the Wakf Board members to decide on the graveyard issue, but they were asked to speak to the other Muslim religious leaders too before taking up the job.

House owners in the ambit of the third phase of widening gave their consent for an extension up to 90 feet following an increase in the price of the site after the earlier phases of widening. The third phase widening is likely to start on September 1.

Meanwhile, there is still an ambiguity on the width of MG Road if it is to be confined to 100 feet or 120 feet as proposed by the district authorities. Legal hassles haunted the project with house owners moving the AP High Court. But the court directed the municipal authorities to take up the works.

The road would be extented for almost 2.5 km in three phases from the police control room to Raghavaiah Park, from the park to the veterinary hospital and from the hospital to Benz Circle. House owners under the first and second phases of the road widening are demanding compensation according to the market value but it was made clear to them that they will paid as per the norms.

“We are talking to the house owners about the width and will soon decide if it should be 120 feet or confined to 100 feet. As far as compensation is concerned, we are offering government bonds and are also ready to allot them shops in the corporation shopping complexes as it would match the loss they have incurred. There is no dearth of funds for development works,” said the Vuda chairman Malladi Vishnu.

Guntur, Aug. 27: Teaching assistants in the puview of Nagarjuna University hea-ved a sigh of relief with the announcement of vice-chancellor that assistant professor posts would be filled soon. Vice-chancellor Dr V. Balamohan Das had, during the convocation on Saturday, said that there would be open admission for filling the long-pending posts of assistant professors.

While presenting a progress report on the university at the convocation, the vice-chancellor hadsaid that the government sanctioned 57 assistant professor posts. He said that the posts would be filled by October and eligible candidates would be given priority.

Since the schedule is round the corner, the teaching assistants working in the campus and also at the post-graduate centres at various places are worried about their chances. A total of 38 teaching assistants in the university, Nuzivid and Ongole post-graduate centres have been working for a decade.

Earlier, there was a controversy over the preparation of roster points.
The roaster committee was constituted under the aegis of Dr Haragopal Red-dy, the present rector. But, with the ‘unilateral functioning’ of the convener in allotting the roster points to the teaching assistants, the teaching assistants in the university purview were divided into two groups.

Since it was alleged that the committee tried to appease its coterie in various departments, the opponent group moved court challenging the credibility of the roster list. Recently, the executive committee of the university rectified the anomalies paving way to fill the posts. There has been a long-pending demand by the teaching assistants to give them priority while filling the posts.

Mandasa (Srikakulam), Aug. 27: Telugu Desam (TD) and Congress supporters clashed over setting up of a Ganesh pandal in which 20 persons were injured, two of them seriously, in Peddalimbu village in this mandal on Sunday.

At least 10 houses and a vehicle were destroyed. The rioters used lathis, iron rods, soda bottles, bricks and stones. The injured were admitted to hospital and a police picket was posted in the village. Sompeta circle-inspector L.V. Srinivasa Rao, who rushed to the village to control the situation, said people belonging to Congress set up a Gaenesh pandal on the outskirts of the village, as was the practice for the last 10 years.

TD activists led by MPTC Mandala Latchaiah also planned to erect a pandal in front of the pandal pitched by the Congressmen to which the former objected. This led to a clash and destruction of properties in the village. All the roads in the village were strewn with pieces of glass from the broken soda bottles, bricks and stones. Broken furniture was also seen on the roads.

About 10 houses made of asbestos roofs and haystack were also destroyed in the clashes. Rioters entered the homes of the rivals and broke furniture and household articles. As the menfolk were away for daily wage work in the farms and mango orchards, the women were attacked in the group clashes.

“The entire village wore a war zone scene with the wailing of women and children who also received minor injuries,” said a Congress activist. In the clash, B. Yadavayya, M. Simhadri, P. Rama Rao, Nartu Tata Rao, Pinninti Someswara Rao and two others received serious injuries.

They were admitted to Baruva government hospital. MPTC Latchaiah told reporters that the Congress workers provoked them. He alleged that they were only five when a huge group of Congressmen attacked them. But Congress leaders alleged that they had collected donations from the village and installed the pandal. For the first time, the TD activists wanted to install the idol at the same place.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 27: Marxist Communist Party of India (MCPI) district secretary S. Gangadhar Reddy appealed to the city police commissioner V.S.K. Kaumidi to drop the case booked under SC, ST Atrocities Act against the family members of Parasuram Srinivas, a patient who died in the King George Hospital (KGH) on last Sunday.

It may be recalled that infuriated by the death of Srinivas, his family members assaulted the casualty medical officer of KGH P. Bangaraiah, which sparked protests by doctors across the State. The police who arrested eight persons in this connection registered cases under SC, ST Atrocities Act against them.

“The relatives should have staged a dharna or filed a case against the doctors responsible if they felt there was criminal negligence on the part of the medical staff. But they had attacked the doctor, which is not acceptable,” said Mr Reddy.

However, he took objection to the police filing cases against the accused under SC, ST Atrocities Act saying there is nothing to invoke caste or religion in the entire episode. “An altercation ensued between the relatives of the dead man and the CMO and the latter was attacked by the accsused in a fit of rage,” Mr Reddy added. Hence, he urged the police to drop the SC, ST atrocities charges against the relatives of the deceased in the interest of justice.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 27: Minister for commercial taxes Konatala Ramakrishna said that the various housing projects taken up by the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Auth- ority (Vuda) should aim at benefiting the public.

Addressing Vuda officials at a review meeting on an action plan of Vuda held at the collectorate here late on Saturday night, Mr Ramakrishna urged the officials to give priority to public welfare and the planned development of the city rather than profits.

“The Vuda took up a mega housing project at a cost of Rs 20 crores at Rushikonda spread over 6.78 acres. A project worth Rs 6 crores Kapuluppada in an area of six acres and a housing project at Kurmannapalem worth Rs 6.4 crores in 1.77 acres were also taken up,” said Mr Ramakrishna.

Stating that the Vuda had ventured to develop a mega housing project costing around Rs 138.61 crores in Madhurawada, he said 2,002 houses would be constructed in 12 blocks under this project. The minister announced that the main road in Anakapalli would be developed at a cost of Rs 3.75 crores, parks would be improved at a cost of Rs 38 lakhs by Vuda besides construction of an indoor stadium in Anakapalli at a cost of 1.83 crores.

“The 25-km beach road up to Bhimli will be developed very soon at a cost of Rs 50 crores. Facilities will be improved at Kailasagiri, Vuda Park, Vuda Children’s Theatre, Kurusura submarine museum and other tourist spots,” the minister added.