Authorities asked to clear beach encroachments

Visakhapatnam: Jana Sena corporator P Murthy Yadav mentioned that it was not appropriate to promote New York-based NGO Parle for the Oceans with the tax collected from the people.

Appreciating the mega beach clean-up drive to be taken up from the Coastal Battery to Bheemunipatnam, Murthy Yadav pointed out that it, however, appears odd to spend crores of rupees for the initiative.

On Thursday, the corporator submitted representations to Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari and GVMC Commissioner G Lakshmisha appealing them to clear encroachments across the beach road on a priority basis.

There were a number of encroachments along the stretches of Jodugullapalem, Sagar Nagar, Rushikonda area and Kapuluppada beaches and there was a need to remove them at the earliest, the corporator added.

The JSP corporator alleged that after the YSRCP government came to power, Coastal Regulation Zone norms have been gravely violated in Visakhapatnam. Murthy Yadav reiterated that the GVMC was losing crores of rupees of income annually due to illegal constructions along the beach.

Further, Murthy Yadav wondered why the ministers, IAS and IPS officers were busy for the past one week in serving an international organisation such as Parle in the garb of the beach clean- up drive.

Murthy Yadav pointed out that the Parle for the Oceans has no recycling unit in Visakhapatnam and the garbage collected at the scheduled 40 points on Friday along the beach will be shifted to Kapuluppada dumping yard. "But the authorities concerned are making a big hue and cry for collecting the litter from one point and dumping the same at the other," he stated.