MLA threatens stir on drought
Vajrakarur, Sept. 19: “I don’t hesitate to lay siege
to offices right from the MRO office to the district
ministers’ office, if the government failed to solve
the problems faced by the farmers in the drought-hit
Anantapur district,” said Uravakonda MLA Payyavula
Kesav.
He said that he had taken the decision after
personally inspecting the drought conditions in the
district and took stock of the situation right from
the farmers. As part of the programme, he undertook a
whirlwind tour of various villages under the mandal
including Chinna Hotur, Gade Hotur, Chabala,
Dharmapuri, Chayapuram and Pottipadu villages along
with mandal-level Telugu Desam leaders.
Speaking to Mr Kesav, the farmers narrated their tales
of woe to the Telugu Desam MLA saying that they did
not witness such a horrendous drought in their
lifetime. They said that the kharif crop was withered
away in the absence of rain and even they did not see
any bright future for the ensuing rabi crop as well.
One of the farmers bemoaned that the government which
is claiming farmer-friendly failed to come to the
rescue of farmers despite the severe drought
conditions being witnessed in the district. The
farmers demanded that the State government should
release crop loss compensation at the earliest, to
enable them to procure seed for rabi. They said that
they could raise crop at least for the fodder to save
their cattle, leave alone routine crops.
They urged the MLA to arrange Bengal gram and
sunflower seed on 90 per cent subsidy to rise in rabi
season. The farmers said that several agricultural
labourers were migrating to nearby towns and cities in
search of employment. The visiting MLA assured them
that he would take up agitation to ensure justice to
the farmers.
It is unfortunate to hear that the agriculture
minister making a statement in the Assembly that there
is no drought in any part of the State, though severe
drought conditions are prevailing in Anantapur
district, the Uravakonda MLA criticised. “If need be
I will stage a dharna right in front of the
Secretariat in Hyderabad,” Mr Kesav said.
Cloud seeding begins in Anantapur district
Anantapur, Sept. 19: At last cloud seeding has begun
in Rayalaseema district on Tuesday. On receipt of a
green signal from Union Aviation Ministry, the
officials had started cloud seeding by evening. The
plane belonging to Agni Aviation tried its best to
seed the clouds in Kurnool district, by keeping its
base in Bangalore.
However, the representatives of the Agni Aviation
announced that their experiment on the first day
failed to yield result and it remained as an
experiment. However, they declared that they would
intensify their efforts on Wednesday. Wing Commander
K.G. Sharma of Agni Aviation said that the radar
centre set up at Anantapur could detect clouds within
200 km range in Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool and
Chittoor districts.
However, he said that they did not find any clouds in
Anantapur district and they could be noticed in
Kurnool district to some extent. He said that they
were trying to identify the clouds and passing on the
information to their staff to take up cloud seeding.
The district chief planning officer Sudarshan
officially declared that cloud seeding has begun in
the district with the help of Anantapur radar centre.
Even if the cloud seeding yields results, it will be
of no great use, some farmers opined.
TTD appraiser in ACB trap
Tirupati, Sept. 19: ACB officials led by deputy
superintendent of police (DSP) Ramdas conducted raids
on the residence of a TTD Parakamani employee and gold
appraiser Devarasetti Sureshbabu on Tuesday and found
cash and assets valued at Rs 75 lakh.
The DSP said that ACB officials raided his residences
and properties simultaneously in Tirupati, Chennai and
Chittoor. Officials also found Rs 1.50 lakh, gold and
silver. They raided his residence at Chintakayala
Street in Tirupati on Tuesday morning and continued
search operations till evening.
They also raided a luxurious house at Kapilateerdham
area on the bypass road and found one kg gold, 30 kgs
of silver, Rs. 1.50 lakh cash and bank deposits to the
tune of Rs 2 lakhs. They also found documents of
assets and properties located in Venkatagiri in
Nellore district and Srikalahasthi in Chittoor
district. Officials also raided the residence of his
brother-in-law in Chennai. Sureshbabu joined the TTD
as a gold appraiser in 1993.
The ACB officials arrested him and would produce him
at the ACBCourt in Nellore.
ACB inspectors Alla Baksh, Srinivasulu Reddy,
Giridhar, Janardhan Naidu, Karunakar, Siva Sanker and
others participated in the raids. Meanwhile,
Sureshbabu said that the properties found by officials
were inherited from his ancestors. He denied
allegations that he illegally amassed wealth.
Responding to the ACB raids, TTD chairman Karunakar
Reddy said that TTD employees were more honest than
those in other departments and were performing their
duties sincerely.
Karanam sent to judicial custody
Ongole, Sept. 19: Addanki legislator Karanam Balarama
Krishna Murthy was produced before third additional
district munsif magistrate judge Ms T Rajyalakshmi on
Tuesday in connection with abusing collector B. Udaya
Lakshmi at the Gundlakamma project site on Sunday.
Maddipadu police filed cases on the legislator and he
was produced before the court on Tuesday. The
magistrate remanded the legislator till October 3 to
judicial custody. Maddipadu police filed cases in
Sections 353, 509,506,186, Section 7 Clause-1 Criminal
Amendment Act.
Projects chief engineer Sivaram and Velugonda project
superintending eng-ineer (SE) Suryanarayanababu lodged
a complaint with police on September 17. The collector
lodged a complaint the following day. Cases were filed
on charges of abusing the collector and obstructing
project works.
Four advocates argued on behalf of the MLA, while
public prosecutor K. Srinivasa Reddy argued on behalf
of the government. The MLA was brought to the court at
around 2.45 pm and the judge remanded him at 4 pm.
Police dispersed his followers outside the court when
he was taken from the court.
Ongole DSP Kondareddy, town circle-inspector Bala
Venkateswara Rao monitored the law and order situation
in the town. TD leaders former minister Damacharla
Anjaneyulu, former MLAs Divi Sivaram, David Raju and
others were also present at the court.
Godavari nears danger mark
No flood theat, say irrigation officials
Rajahmundry, Sept. 19: Floodwater in the Godavari
river is rising steadily by registering water level at
9.80 feet with a discharge of 7.55 lakh cusecs of
water at the Dowleswaram barrage at 8 pm. The water
level is likely to cross the first warning level of
11.75 feet by 6 pm on Wednesday.
Incessant rains in the last few days disrupted normal
life as several low-lying areas were submerged in
floodwaters in both East and West Godavari districts.
East Godavari received a total rainfall of 959 mm on
Tuesday with a district average of 18.8 mm. Amalapuram
mandal received the maximum rainfall of 61.2 mm while
Addateegala received a minimum of only 1 mm.
Rajahmundry received 9.6 mm and Kakinada 3 mm. In
Rajahmundry, several low-lying areas like Aryapuram,
Tummalova, Shyalama Centre, Devichowk, railway
station, Alcotgardens and others were inundated,
affecting commuters. With heavy rainfall registered
at Amalapuram, several villages and island villages
were affected as floodwaters entered into these areas.
National highway 214 was inundated at Nagaram and
Mamidikuduru villages, disrupting vehicular traffic
for some time. Irrigation canals and drains started
flowing at full capacity. Though water entered
hundreds of acres of agricultural lands, there were no
reports of crop damage in the district.
Godavari head works irrigation executive engineer
Muralidhar said: “Unless the floodwater discharge at
the barrage reaches between 16 to 17 lakh cusecs of
water, there will not be any major problem. Bridging
of a breach to the bund at Mondepulanka is already
over and similar work at another breached bund at
Sanepallilanka is underway. There will not be any
inundation of villages at present.”
West Godavari received a total rainfall 1,645.8 mm on
Tuesday while the district average was 35.8 mm. Athili
mandal registered the highest amount of 150.6 mm while
Tallapudi, T. Narasapuram and Nallajarla mandals
received a minimum of 4.2 mm.
Eluru registered 88 mm, Bhimavaram 49.4 mm and
Tadepalligudem received rainfall of 16.2 mm. Drain
waters at Gollalakoderu village of Palakoderu mandal
inundated nearly 50 houses as some villagers had
encroached upon the drain.
Come out on ragging, VC tells students
Kakinada , Sept. 19: Strict measures are being
initiated to check ragging in the affiliated colleges
of Andhra University, said university vice-chancellor
Prof. L. Venugopal Reddy. He said incidents which
happen outside the university and college campuses
would be equally dealt with.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, the
vice-chancellor said that all affiliated colleges in
the five districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,
Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari were informed of
this stand of the university. He said that
anti-ragging committees were being formed in several
colleges in the university affiliated area. He asked
students to come and complain about such incidents
without any hesitation.
The names of persons who complained about ragging
would be kept a closely guarded secret, Prof. Reddy
revealed. He also said that ‘Dial Your University’
programme was being conducted every week, and
incidents of such nature and other grievances could be
brought to the notice of university authorities.
He revealed that a communication skills development
programme was being conducted for students of
affiliated colleges right from the first year degree
course onwards. The vice-chancellor said that AU and
Acharya Nagarjuna University were the first to go for
such programmes. On the Nannaya University at
Rajahmundry, he said that at present infrastructure
facilities were being provided. It could take a couple
or more years to provide these facilities, he added.
Till then the AU would look after administrative
aspects, he said. On the need for conducting workshops
on internal quality assurance, Prof. Reddy said that
this would help in raising the standard of teaching
and assess the performance of colleges.
Heavy rain wreaks havoc
Karimnagar, Sept. 19: Heavy rains destabilised the
normal life in the district causing unprecedented
damage to life and property on Tuesday. Sixteen
persons, including two schoolchildren, died in the
rain devastation. As many as 391 rivers and ponds were
breached and crops in more than 6,000 acres were
damaged in the rain havoc. About 1,500 houses were
totally collapsed and 10,000 partially damaged all
over the district due to heavy rains since Monday.
The road link between Karimnagar, Hyderabad,
Warangal, and Adilabad districts was totally disrupted
following breach of rivers and ponds on Rajiv highway
and Rayapatnam highways. Hundreds of passengers were
stranded in the Karimnagar bus stand as the bus
services were cancelled. Karimnagar witnessed
extensive damage due to the nature’s fury.
Five persons died in the rain-related incidents in the
town. Md Salim, 53, of Hussainipura, accidentally
drowned in an overflowing drain near the civil
hospital in Karimnagar in the morning. A. Bharathi,
40, died in a wall collapse incident in Bhagathnagar.
D. Santosh, 21, accidentally fell in a drain and
washed away in the floodwaters near the collectorate.
Two unidentified bodies were recovered from the
overflowing drains at separate places in Karimnagar.
N. Mallaiah, 45, a fisherman, drowned when he ventured
into a pond near Nagnoor in the morning. K. Mallaiah,
60, was electrocuted near Chegurthi in Karimnagar
mandal. Md Ahmed, 49, a truck driver washed away in
the floodwaters when the lorry in which he was
proceeding to Karimnagar overturned near Dubbapalli on
Rajiv highway in the morning.
Minister for sports M. Satyanarayana Rao visited the
flood-affected areas in Karimnagar and supervised the
relief operations. About 2,000 displaced persons of
the town were evacuated and provided accommodation at
three relief camps. Chigurumamidi mandal recorded
highest rainfall of 44 cms in the district. Karimnagar
town received 30 cms rainfall.
Woman groups to buy paddy
Warangal, Sept. 19: For the first time in the history
of paddy procurement, the women Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) are being involved in the procurement during
the present season in the district.
The SHGs will procure paddy at the village level
through the Village Organisations in order to give the
minimum support price (MSP) to farmers at their
doorstep. Besides the regular procurement through the
Food Corporation of India and Civil Supplies
department, the SHGs will also procure the paddy so as
to end the middlemen raj.
Major irrigation minister Ponnalal Lakshmaiah, who
reviewed the agriculture marketing and procurement
strategy for the season at the collectorate here,
directed the authorities to involve more SHGs in order
to end the exploitation of farmers.
The women SHGs through the Indira Kranthi Patham now
target to procure a total of 3.5 lakhs quintals of
paddy this year. Appreciating the achievements shown
by the SHGs in the procurement of maize during the
last couple of seasons, Mr Lakshmaiah said that they
should also continue their good track record in the
paddy procurement.
He said that the women of the district have made a
mark of their own in the agriculture produce
procurement and thus eliminated middlemen and ensured
that the farmers get the minimum support price. The
minister said that women SHGs, civil supplies,
Markfed, Food Corporation of India and marketing
department should effectively coordinate and ensure
that the MSP was given to farmers.
The SHGs through their Mandal Samakhyas and the
Village Organisations have decided to establish 17
procurement centres for paddy, 44 centres to procure
maize and 15 centres to procure red gram in the
district. Social welfare minister D.S. Redya Naik,
district collector K. Damayanti, joint collector Syed
Omer Jaleel and other senior officials were present.
Rains spawn floods, roads cut
Upland farmers welcome floods
Vijayawada, Sept. 19: The incessant rains in areas
along Krishna and Godavari rivers inundated several
villages and disconnected the communication network in
the last three days. Several low-lying villages along
the two rivers were submerged as the rivulets and
tributaries were overflowing.
The heavy inflows into Munneru, Wyra and Kattaleru
rivulets in Krishna district brought cheers to the
people of Jaggaiahpet and Nandigama areas as they have
water now for the crops, which otherwise would have
dried up. On Tuesday, the area received over 25.6 mm
rainfall, giving a new lease of life to the standing
crops. The upland areas of Tiruvur, Mylavaram and
Nuzvid also have now sufficient water for crops.
The floodwaters entered many houses in the low-lying
areas in the city and the outskirts, while water
flowed on several roads in the city. The roads at
Machavaram down, Kaleswararao Market and
Mogalrajapuram looked like small streams with
rainwater due to the failure of the drainage system.
The streams also are now overflowing and majority of
the irrigation tanks in the upland mandals were now
getting filled with the floodwater. The farmers, who
have been mounting pressure on the State government
for release of water to the upland mandals from the
Nagarjunsagar Left Canal are now satisfied with the
floodwater.
However, the situation is more serious in the
neighbouring Khammam district. Several villages in
Khammam, Kothagudem and Bhadrachalam divisions were
marooned in the floodwater. The irrigation tanks in
the villages like Sujathanagar, Vepalagadda, Mylaram,
Regalla, Sitarampuram, Chatakonda, Karukonda have
received heavy inflows due to the rains in the last
three days.
Several roads in the Kothagudem division were washed
away disrupting the vehicular movement to the
villages. The bridge across the Murredu stream was
damaged. In Thallada area, the farmers have lost
their motor pump sets due to the floodwater, while the
standing commercial and horticulture crops were
damaged. The farmers from Gollagudem, Venkatapuram,
Pinapaka and Kistapuram villages complained of loss of
pump selts.
Civic bodies receive funds for sanitation
Guntur, Sept. 19: The State government has released Rs
1.89 crores to various municipalities in the district
to improve sanitation.This was done in the context of
the Supreme Court expressing displeasure about the
woeful sanitary conditions in Andhra Pradesh.
It had directed the State government to release
necessary funds to improve sanitary conditions. The
State government has asked municipalities to use the
funds mainly for solid waste management. Garbage is
found littered on most streets of the district and
this has been ascribed to the inefficient way in which
waste was being collected from households.
Municipality authorities have been strictly instructed
to avoid littering the streets. The government has
allotted Rs 38 lakhs to Tenali municipality, Rs 23
lakhs to Narsaraopet, Rs 22 lakhs to Chilakaluripet
and Rs 15 lakhs to Mangalagiri. Sattenapalli and
Vinukonda were given Rs 13 lakhs each and Rs 12 lakhs
was allotted to Piduguralla.
Officials said these funds would be used for
purchasing tractors, rickshaws and dumpers to collect
garbage. As a precursor, municipalities have carried
out sanitation-related repairs in many areas. More
rickshaws will be pressed into service for garbage
collection and the phone numbers of concerned sanitary
inspector and contractor would be displayed on the
vehicles.
Some municipalities are segregating their towns into
zones to facilitate easier garbage collection. Civic
authorities are also planning to implement the ban on
use of plastic bags and fines would be imposed on
violators.
CBI arrests woman labour officer
Visakhapatnam, Sept. 19: The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) sleuths caught red-handed Central
labour enforcement officer K. Sunitha while she was
accepting a bribe of Rs 12,000 from a complainant D.
Chakravarthy at her residence in CBM compound on
Monday night.
According to reports, central assistant labour
commissioner M.N. Rao inspected a shopping plaza
located on the premises of a petrol bunk belonging to
a multinational company on the national highway close
to Bhogapuram about 40 km from here and threatened the
complex owner that he needed a labour licence to
employee people failing which he would be penalised.
When the owner replied that he sought all permissions
from the State labour office, Mr Rao told him that the
petrol bunks and the shopping complexes come under the
purview of the Central labour office. A month later
enforcement officer K. Sunitha visited the complex and
repeated the threat. She also gave a hint that a bribe
of Rs 15,000 (Rs 5,000 for Mr Rao) along with the
licence fee would save him from all the troubles.
Chakravarthy informed a local TV channel and the CBI
about the demand made by the enforcement officer.
On Monday, she summoned Chakravarthy and repeated her
demand. She also agreed to accept Rs 12,000. A trap
was laid at her residence on Monday evening and when
Mr Chakravarthy was about to pay the money, the CBI
sleuths from Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam took her into
custody. The CBI officials said that they were
verifying whether the shopping complexes in the petrol
bunks come under the Central labour office. Further
investigation is on.
Official reviews tribal programme
Visakhapatnam, Sept 19: The Remote and Interior Area
Development Programme (RIADP) aimed at overall
development of the tribal areas in the State would be
implemented in 3,812 villages spread in 18 districts
across the State in three phases, principal secretary
M.V.P.C. Sastry said.
Mr Sastry reviewed the implementation of the programme
in five districts Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram,
Srikakulam, East and West Godavari with the respective
district collectors, SPs and project officers of
Integrated Tribal Development Agencies here on
Tuesday.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Sastry directed ITDA
officers to appoint nodal level officers in every
district to monitor the grounding of the schemes under
RIAD programme as the State government took the
implementation in a prestigious way.
“The concerned officers should regularly hold meetings
and review the implementation of the programme as many
aspects like education, medical care, employment,
provision of drinking and irrigation water, housing,
roads and electricity are involved,” said Mr Sastry.
He directed the officials of all the departments to
conduct review meeting in regular intervals. The
principal secretary told them to conduct
house-to-house survey in the selected tribal villages
to know the problems faced by them.
“While moving house to house as part of the survey,
the survey conductors should explain the purpose of
the survey and the commitment of the State government
in implementing the programme for the overall
development of the tribal areas,” he added.
He suggested to the officials to take the aims and
aspirations of the tribal youth while offering them
employment and to take every care in changing the
attitude of the tribal youth.
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