Less than 24 hours after a vessel with 4,000 containers reached Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore district, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy called it an “empty rhetoric” by his arch rival and Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, alleging that the vessel contained empty containers.
Mr. Govardhan Reddy got a container arrival scheduled at the port well within the 15-day ultimatum issued by the all-party delegation, but the TDP leader termed it as merely a face-saving exercise.
Addressing the media here on Saturday, Mr. Chandramohan Reddy produced a communication purportedly between the port officials and the liners as proof.
“I reiterate that the port has shut down container operations here and diverted the business to the ports in Tamil Nadu, but the Minister is trying to hoodwink the people by bringing in empty containers,” he alleged.
The TDP leader said that 16,000 acres of farmers’ land had been painstakingly procured and given away for the port, but the same become inoperative after its takeover by the Adani group. “Can the Minister get a written confirmation from the Adani group that the port operations will continue as usual at Krishnapatnam?” he challenged.
Insisting that the port schedule showed no arrivals (inward vessel movement), Mr. Chandramohan Reddy said that the port used to be lively with 14 arrivals per month on an average in the past. “The livelihood of nearly 10,000 workers is at stake today,” he said, while warning of intense agitation on the issue against the port management as well as the government.
