The Congress told the BJP that it would build a bigger party office on the Krishna riverbed if the latter went ahead and built one disregarding the Central River Conservancy Act and other laws and norms protecting rivers and environment.
PCC vice-president and former Minister Devineni Rajasekhar addressing a press conference at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Tuesday said it was ironical that farmers were being evicted from their lands close by, while the BJP was planning to construct a party office to protect the interests of party MP Gokaraju Gangaraju who had guest houses and other interests on the Krishna river bank.
Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for a new State office on Sunday.
Mr. Rajasekhar pointed out that the land for the party office was donated by none other than Mr. Gangaraju. This type of strategy was used by land owners to protect their property. They spent money to build a temple so that the land around it was not acquisitioned, he said.
The Congress leaders asked why Minister for Major Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao took a boat trip on the river and ordered an inquiry into unauthorised constructions on the Krishna riverbed, he said. “As the Minister responsible, what was he doing when the Union Minister for Urban Affairs was laying the foundation stone for the party office on the riverbed?” he questioned.
Refutes allegation
Refuting the allegation of the Irrigation Minister that many of the unauthorised constructions mushroomed during the rule of the Congress party, Mr. Rajasekhar said that several constructions, including Mr. Ganga Raju’s guesthouses were there even before the Congress party came to power.
Mr. Rajasekhar said that according to his knowledge Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu instructed the Capital Region Development Agency (CRDA) to earmark the stretch for the development of a greenbelt.
The norms for the development of greenbelts were stringent and no construction of any kind was allowed in them, but his own party persons and allies were ignoring them, he said.
‘We will do it if BJP goes ahead build office disregarding the Central River Conservancy Act and other laws and norms protecting rivers and environment’
