Srikakulam(Andhra Pradesh) district villagers continue protest against thermal power plant project

                                    

Andhra Pradesh(Srikakulam): A year after three villagers died in police firing on a group opposing an upcoming thermal power project, the struggle by people of Kakrapalli in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district is still on.

The relay hunger strike by the villagers demanding scrapping of the project entered its 564th day on Wednesday while protestors also unveiled a memorial as a mark of tribute to those who died in the police firing Feb 28 last year.

"We will not settle for anything less than scrapping of the project as it is not only poses a threat to the ecology but also endangers the livelihood of fishermen and farmers," M. Narsingh Rao, a member of the Navalapadu thermal power Vytherka Porata Samithi, which is spearheading the anti-project protest, told reporters over phone from the north coastal Andhra region.

The former IAS officer, who served as secretary, finance and power in the government of India, said the wetland was illegally allotted to ECEPL. He said the project should not have been cleared by the ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for thermal projects.

Former bureaucrat and activist E.A.S. Sarma on Wednesday wrote to union Minister of State for Environment Jayanthi Natarajan, urging her to stop the project coming up on the wetland by cancelling the environmental clearance.

While waging a legal battle, the Samithi is continuing with the protest. Hundreds attended a meeting it organised Tuesday to pay tributes to those who died in police firing.

The East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd (ECEPL) is building a 2,640 MW thermal power plant at a cost of Rs.12,000 crore in the swamp, barely 2.5 km from the Bay of Bengal.

Sarma said the construction activity resulted in depriving hundreds of traditional fishermen of their livelihoods, flooded thousands of adjacent agricultural lands and adversely affected small traditional salt farmers.

"The newly constituted EAC had listened to the company's version without giving an opportunity to the villagers to represent their case. This is patently illegal and undemocratic. Even at this stage, it will be appropriate for MOEF to invite the villagers to give their version," he wrote.

Sarma also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against "promoters of ECEPL and the project clearances obtained by them by deceit".

Fishermen claim that the project coming upon on 3,333 acres of land has already affected their livelihood. The farmers face inundation of their 30,000 acre farmland in 59 villages as the project has obstructed the natural flow of water to the sea.

Kovur by-poll: LokSatta and National Congress Party candidates file papers

                                  

The Lok Satta(LSP) and National Congress Party(NCP) candidates filed nominations for the Kovur by-election in Nellore district on Tuesday.

Lok Satta nominee Nellore Narasaiah, accompanied by his party activists, arrived at the Kovur tehsildar's office and filed his papers.

With the by-poll garnering a lot of attention, many parties are keen to prove their strength by entering the contest. Supporters of West Bengal cadre IPS officer, Pattapu Ravi, have started making election campaign arrangements as he is contesting on Bahujana Hitakarini Sabha.

Mr. Kondapalli Guravaiah filed the nomination on behalf of NCP. Sk. Kalesh Saheb entered the election fray as an independent.

The party leaders asserted that Lok Satta was the only alternative at a time when political parties were mired in corruption, favouritism and inefficiency, bothering little about good governance and people's welfare.

With YSR Congress, ruling Congress and TDP strongly vying for the seat, the by-poll has turned into a keen triangular contest.

2 fresh cases of swine flu reported in Andhra Pradesh

                                 

Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad): Two fresh cases of swine flu have been reported from two private hospitals here, a top health official said on Tuesday.

"Two H1N1 positive cases have been identified and they include a male and a female. The patients are admitted in private hospitals and their condition is stable," Andhra Pradesh State Coordinator for Swine Flu Dr Subhakar told today.

Allaying the concerns, Subhakar said there was no need to panic as such sporadic cases are reported intermittently.

"There is no hazard for transmission of such cases and that the situation is well under control," he added.

Psycho man creates terror in Tenali town

                                      

TENALI (Andhra Pradesh): nevertheless the intense surveillance taken up by nearly 20 special police teams, a man continues to create terror in and around Tenali town by selectively attacking women and girls. Women are under tremendous stress to venture out during the night after the 'psycho' attacked at least 6 persons in the last two weeks alone.

Sources said the stranger was shedding his clothes soon after coming across women or girls at the hostels in the night and terrifying them by breaking into a dance before them. Even before the other inmates wake up, the psycho vanishes from the scene.

Last week, he entered a retired teacher's residence and attacked him and his wife. Subsequently, he closed the doors of the room in which the granddaughter of the elderly couple was sleeping and reportedly danced without clothes. He reportedly asked the girl to take off her clothes and beat her up when she resisted his attempts. Before this incident, the psycho created panic in the women's hostel on the outskirts of the town, which the hostel management initially dubbed as a house-breaking attempt by a robber. Following series of incidents SP visited Tenali and formed around least 20 special teams and asked them to be on continuous night patrol In Tenali.

Late on Monday night, the psycho attacked another woman. Upon information, the police teams rushed to the spot but failed to catch him. Under pressure from locals, police brought two innocent youths and beat them up ruthlessly. Eye-witnesses told the police that the person terrorizing the women would be around Thirty years of age.

Two kids die as school bus plunges into canal in East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh)

                                 

Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh): Two students were killed and 15 went missing when a school bus fell into a canal near here in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, police said.

The bus, carrying 45 Lower KG and Upper KG students of  Sai Teja Public School and its own staff overturned and fell into the Godavari river canal near Ganti Pedapudi village.

Thirty children were rescued by locals, they said. The sources, however, said the total number of students in the bus could be over 50 and "we will have a clear picture only after collecting the details of the children of the school and students who had boarded the bus on the way".

Four bodies have been recovered so far and a search operation has been launched for the missing students, police said, adding some students were injured in the accident.

Expert swimmers from Rajahmundry and Kakinada were requisitioned for search operations. Due to darkness and heavy flow of water in the canal, the rescue operations were hampered. The authorities sought the help of local fishermen, who tied fishing nets at the Gannavaram main irrigation canal at Mondepulanka to stop the missing children from being washed away. Aggrieved parents of some of the students reached the mishap site, 65 km from Rajahmundry. With locals from nearby villages rushing to the spot, traffic movement was affected .

"The villagers rescued 15 children and brought out two bodies. Since no more parents have come forward searching for their children till now, we assume there were no more children in the bus since the driver had dropped some of them mid-way," a revenue officer, overseeing the rescue operations, said. But locals said there could be 5-6 students when the bus plunged into the canal.

Sources said the buses of the private schools were not in proper condition. The authorities had seized one of the four buses of the school for bad maintenance six months ago.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed District Collector Neethu Kumari Prasad to provide adequate medical facilities to the injured who were admitted to a nearby hospital, officials said.

The driver of the ill-fated bus was untraced, police said adding and a search was launched to locate him.

Authorities pressed into service divers to trace the missing students in the canal, police said.