The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has blamed the ‘mining mafia’ for causing a drain on the State exchequer by mining gravel more than the permitted level in the erstwhile combined district of Kadapa.
The party leaders accused the YSR Congress party of shielding the mafia and allowing the plunder of national wealth.
The party’s district president, R. Sreenivasa Reddy, accompanied by State Organising Secretaries B. Hariprasad, S. Govardhan Reddy, constituency in-charge leaders V.S. Ameer Babu (Kadapa) and Praveen Kumar Reddy (Proddatur), met District Collector V. Vijayarama Raju and submitted a representation to him in this regard, seeking his intervention in curbing the menace.
“Hundreds of heavy vehicles were shifting the gravel from the city outskirts, not only by violating the regulations, but also causing serious disturbance to the residents,” Mr. Sreenivasa Reddy said.
Speaking to the media later, he described as ‘purposeless’ the recent visit of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to the district on the occasion of YSR Vardhanti.
‘Not a rupee spent on irrigation projects’
“Except from paying tributes at YSR Ghat, there was no review on the government’s performance, nor any directions to ensure progress. Apart from laying foundation stones, not a single rupee has been spent on irrigation projects,” he charged.
Though the district has major irrigation projects such as Galeru Nagari, Handri Neeva and Chitravati, there was hardly any progress in the last three years due to paucity of funds, he rued, pointing to the flow of water out of the reservoirs.
“After Pincha and Annamayya reservoirs got washed away, what action has the government taken to restore them?”, he sought to know.
