Rules are meant for ordinary citizens and they are sacrosanct. Officials strictly implement them quoting scriptures, constitution and responsibility and earn name as stickler of rule book. But same inviolable rules bend automatically when powerful politician happen to come nearer to them. Imagine a chief minister is likely to get aggrieved by the rules, rules would melt away and make room for the chief minister. Officials vie with each other in modifying and scrapping the rule book. This is happening in Vijayawada if media reports are to be believed. The aggrieved party is none other than chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, according to the reports.
It is everybody’s knowledge that Chandrababu Naidu has occupied a villa on the banks of River Krishna, which unfortunately falls in the flood prone area. Till the CM had fallen in love with the structure and thought it alone could become the CM’s residence, it was an unauthorized villa, constructed without proper clearances. Above all it falls in the flood prone area where constructing houses was barred.
Last year, the National Green Tribunal instructed the authorities to remove all the houses constructed on the bank of River Krishna, as they are prone to be washed away by flood at some point of time in future. (This is exactly what happened in Kurnool in 2009. Half of the city came up on the banks of River Tungabhadra.)
The Krishna district authorities served notices on the residents of the area and asked them to vacate the houses. When this controversy was raging, as if it was god sent, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had become one among them.
The bungalow, which was hired for CM residence, is built on 1.25 ac in SyN0 274A in Undavalli village and the owner is a well-known businessman Lingamaneni Ramesh, who owns Air Costa and region’s biggest gated community near Acharya Nagarjuna university, Guntur. This gated community has also been taken on hire by the government to accommodate ministers and officers.
Now, to avoid the CM’s residence from coming under the scrutiny of National Green Tribunal, the authorities have reportedly proposed changes to the rules. Of course, it’s a great relief to many ordinary people as well. The CRDA and state government is planning to change the alignment of flood banking so that the entire area will be outside the flood prone area. And the CM’s villa would escape the demolition as directed by the NGT.
The question is why should chief minister occupy a building built on flood prone area and give legitimacy to an illegal act ?
This is the second major impropriety the state government is committing to please chief minister who has immense liking for river front capitals and villas.
The other, the state government is said to have been regularizing the illegal purchases of land assigned to the SC and STs. This is happening in a big way in and around capital Amravati region and along the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway. The buyers of the land are not ordinary people , but well connected businessmen .
