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The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ordered Principal Secretary (Water Resources Department) Sashibhushan Kumar and Engineer-in-Chief C. Narayana Reddy to appear before it with regard to the illegal excavation of gravel and soil along the Polavaram right canal bund in Gannavaram, Agiripalli and Vijayawada rural mandals.
The Chief Justice Bench, on Tuesday, asked the Principal Secretary and the EnC to give an explanation for the illegal digging and appear before it. The court posted the matter to June 22.
The CJ Bench comprising Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N. Jayasurya heard the contempt of court petition filed by Pilli Surendrababu, an ex army man. He filed the petition stating that the orders given by the court in March were not being implemented.
The High Court in March directed the State government to take immediate action to stop digging of the canal bund. The HC gave these orders while hearing a PIL filed by Mr. Surendrabababu of Keesarapalle village in Gannavaram mandal. The petitioner contended that the canal was being dug up by private people for gravel and soil, which is weakening the bund. He sought the court’s intervention to protect the bund and direct the government to register criminal cases against those responsible for it.
