Eight persons injured in stone-pelting at Parawada
Eight persons were injured in stone-pelting even as personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) opened fire in the air to quell a violent mob at the project site of NTPC Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant at Parawada, about 50 km from here on Thursday.
Violence broke out when hundreds of fishermen from Tikkavanipalem tried to stall work of laying a pipeline for the seawater pump house for the second phase of NTPC Simhadri, demanding jobs to people affected by the project.
CISF men opened five rounds of fire at around 3.30 p.m. after the agitated mob pelted stones. In the morning, the mob was pacified and persuaded by the NTPC officials to leave. None was injured in firing though four policemen and four civilians, including a fisherman, sustained injuries in the stone pelting.
“Trouble was over the demand for jobs. The situation was brought under control in the evening,” Commissioner of Police J. Poornachandra Rao said. District Collector Lav Agarwal and the Police Commissioner later held talks with NTPC officials for an amicable settlement.
An NTPC spokesman said about 300 villagers from Tikkavanipalem assembled near the pump house and sought jobs. They left the place after being told that only eligible persons would get employment.
However, they re-assembled in large numbers in the afternoon to stage a dharna, leading to a confrontation with the CISF personnel.
CPI (M) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao blamed the NTPC management for pollution in the area and not providing jobs to the project affected people.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu condemned the police lathi-charge and firing on the fishermen and extended his party’s support to their agitation. He asked his party MPs Y.S. Chowdary and Venugopal Reddy to visit Parawada on Friday and console the fishermen.
Hyderabad Special Correspondent writes: Condemning the lathi-charge and firing, the CPI (M) demanded that the NTPC management take steps to prevent pollution.
The NTPC totally failed to check pollution that adversely affected the livelihood of fisherfolk, CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu said. He criticised the public sector undertaking for going ahead with the second pipeline while it failed to rehabilitate those affected by the first one.
