A day after Kamineni Srinivasa Rao was inducted as a Minister in Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet, he said on Monday that the controversy over the demarcation of Kolleru Lake from contour 5 to 3, for which an unanimous resolution was passed in the Assembly, would be solved amicably.
Speaking to the media at the BJP State office here on Monday, Mr. Rao said that the State government would take necessary steps for protection of the livelihood of thousands of fishermen and environment, with the due involvement of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Supreme Court empowered committee.
“Seven years have lapsed since the demolition of encroachments and a huge number of fishermen are still struggling to come to terms with their eviction from the lake which was their only source of livelihood. Clearing elephant grass and water hyacinth from the lake was an expensive proposition as the weeds would come back to life in just three months of their removal. There were many such intricacies to be looked into by the Centre and State government,” Mr. Rao said.
Regarding Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Rao claimed that it had created a lot of goodwill and was a morale booster for the new dispensation which required full support of the Central Government. “For the first time, the BJP is a part of the government in Andhra Pradesh.
The visit of the party top-brass including L.K. Advani augurs well for the Successor State of A.P which needs assistance from the Centre for development,” the just sworn-in MLA from Kaikalur said.
