The YSR Congress Party has lashed out at Telugu Desam Party former Anantapur Urban MLA V. Prabhakar Chowdhary for levelling ‘baseless’ charges against sitting Anantapur Urban MLA Anantha Venkatarami Reddy with regard to completion of pending projects in Anantapur city.
In a retort on Monday to the ‘open letter,’ written by Mr. Prabhakar Chowdhary on non-completion of several development projects in the city despite the new government completing close to six months, former Mayor Rage Parasuram and the Anantapur Urban MLA took exception to the manner in which the former MLA had blamed the present dispensation for allegedly failing to get funds for completion of the projects that were almost completed, according to the TDP leader’s claim.
Acknowledging the ‘open letter,’ Mr. Venkatarami Reddy told The Hindu that it was because of the empty coffers and huge burden of pending dues of contractors’ bills from November 2018 that the work got stalled. If the TDP leader were so much concerned about the development and progress of the projects, he could have got them completed in the last five years. Mr. Venkatarami Reddy pointed out that ₹18,000 crore was due to contractors in the Municipal Administration Department alone out of ₹43,000 crore bills across all the departments from TDP rule.
Refusing to further comment on the letter, the MLA said the government had not forgotten its promise to people. On the Underground Drainage project, he questioned if sanction of funds was pending for a Cabinet guarantee, why did Mr. Chandrababu Naidu not give the green signal before stepping down.
Former Mayor Rage Parasuram at a press conference on Monday at the party office said on the Underground Drainage front despite DPRs prepared for ₹440 crore while the Congress was in power till 2013, the TDP government could not implement it despite they having their MP, MLA and Mayor in power during that period.
On shifting of the dumping yard, Mr. Parasuram told reporters that the government had already identified 12 acres at Narayanapuram for bio-mining, and new sites all round the city for shifting the existing yard from Gooty Road.
