Stop works at Erra Matti Dibbalu, HC issues order

Visakhapatnam : Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered on Wednesday that the works going on at the geo-heritage site ‘Erra Matti Dibbalu’ should be stopped with immediate effect.

Jana Sena Party corporator Peethala Murthy Yadav and fishermen leader Teddu Shankar have filed a PIL in the High Court against the excavation works in progress at Erra Matti Dibbalu located in Bheemunipatnam constituency disturbing the sensitive area.

The irregularities were brought to the court’s notice where part of the Erra Matti Dibbalu were being excavated, damaging the heritage site that falls under the sensitive area of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Zone-1 and Zone-3.

A few months ago, the Bheemunipatnam Mutually Aided Co-operative Building Society commenced work at survey No-118/5A in Nerellavalasa village without obtaining proper permissions from the concerned government departments.

Excavation of red sand dunes was carried out against government regulations that fall under the Coastal Regulation Board and Geo-Heritage.

On receiving a complaint about the ongoing work at Erra Matti Dibbalu, the GVMC official issued a ‘stop work’ order. Following which, the complainants approached the court again to cancel the allotment of land to the society. As part of the PIL, the court issued orders to stop construction works in the region.

Earlier, as soon as the NDA government came to power, the constituency MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao visited the spot and recommended the society to stop the excavation work until they get orders and proper permissions were sought from concerned departments. Also, he exhorted the officials to launch a detailed survey and trace the facts.