Activists urged residents of Sundarayyapeta panchayat to oppose the establishment of a stone crushing unit that is coming up within 364 m of a lake in their village.
Sundarayyapeta panchayat is located in Kasimkota tehsil, 19 km from Anakapalle.
The lake, which is known as Raju Gari Cheruvu, is the main source of irrigation for farmers in Sundarayyapeta, Atchiyyapeta and Mondipalem villages. The area where work is being done to set up the stone crusher unit is in the midst of agricultural fields and casuarina groves, and is a stone’s throw from the water body.
Representatives of the All India Youth Forum (AIYF), A.P. Rythu Sangham, and All India Agricultural and Rural Labour Association (AIARLA) have appealed to the villagers not to allow the establishment of the unit, on the grounds that the dust generated would contaminate the water in the lake and destroy crops over a period of time.
“A new panchayat road was laid from Sampathipuram to Venkupalem. It was built recently under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. This road will be destroyed within two years if heavy trucks ply on it. Anakapalle will be made a district headquarters sooner or later once a separate district is carved out of Visakhapatnam district. It should be protected from pollution for the benefit of posterity,” an activist said.
The activists alleged that those who were setting up the stone crusher unit were violating environmental rules in the absence of resistance from the local people. The wondered whether the approval of the gram panchayat was taken, and whether a gram sabha and a public hearing were conducted as per statutory requirements.
They called upon the local people to act before it was too late and submit a representation to the Joint Action Committee (JAC) to fight for justice to the villagers.
