Setting a poor precedent of abuse of power the Telugu Desam Government is going ahead with destruction of the green eco-system and supplanting it with a concrete jungle in the name of creating a green and blue capital city Amaravati.
The proposed capital city Amaravati would become a heat island and eventually destroy the eco-system in that region, Congress leader and social activist Bolisetti Satyanarayana told mediapersons here on Tuesday. Worse the Government was trying to mislead statutory institutions like National Green Tribunal by giving it false information.
The CRDA Commissioner submitted a declaration to the NGT that it has received the environmental clearance for the foundation laying ceremony on October 9 but could not submit a copy to the tribunal even till Oct 16. The Government has told the NGT that no work is happening in the proposed area pending environmental clearance and Tribunal decision, but the information provided by different departments to petitioners under RTI clearly states that the Government has started disconnection of power supply in 33,000 acres, removed borewells and started clearing and levelling the area, Mr. Satya said.
The Chief Minister getting the Prime Minister and judges to attend the foundation laying ceremony was to get an endorsement for the move which did not receive a proper Government approval, he pointed out.
The CRDA has sanctioned Rs. 11 crore to be paid to a Singapore company for preparation of the Master Plan for the Capital city, according to an official response to an RTI query. The Master Plan has not been drawn up for free by the Singapore Government as claimed by the Chief Minister, he said.
The NGT which is meeting on November 5 is sure to take note of the deviations, he said.
The Government had an option of locating the proposed capital in a less fertile land hardly 20 km away. That would have brought prosperity to the region, the present move would only destroy an already prosperous region, he said.
