Entire South Coastal Andhra Gifted Away

Defense Ministry hard pressed for land

Scam bigger than that of 2 G spectrum

JP demands debate in Assembly

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today that the Government found it difficult to access even an acre of land because of the allocation of 348 km of coastline on a permanent basis to one group under MoUs in the name of construction of Krishnapatnam, Machilipatnam, and Vanpic ports.

This is the latest instance of the Government allocating precious natural resources belonging to people on a large scale to promote a monopoly and it is no less a scam than that of the allocation of the 2 G spectrum, said Dr. JP. Since the subject of ports comes under the Concurrent List, at least the Union Government should cancel the MoUs by bringing in a legislation, Dr. JP said.

Dr. JP was addressing media after the Legislative Assembly had adjourned for the day.

Dr. JP said that while the Government of India allocated a mere 79 km of coastline to all the five major ports on the East Coast of the country under its jurisdiction, the Andhra Pradesh Government allocated 348 km of coastline to three ports (Krishnapatnam, Machilipatnam, and Vanpic) to a single group without taking the Union Government into confidence. And nobody knows whether the ports will come up or not. Krishnapatnam port has been gifted for good 153 km of coastline north and south of it, Vanpic 92 km and Machilipatnam 103 km.

Dr. JP said that the Defense Ministry paid Rs.1000 crore to the Union Government as compensation for parting with some coastline for expansion of the Vizag Naval base. Planning to develop a port and a shipyard with that money, the Union Government asked the Andhra Pradesh Government to allocate a suitable site in south coastal Andhra. Since the State has already allocated the south Andhra coastline to the three ports on a permanent basis, State Government has told the Center that it is not in a position to allocate a site for the proposed port and shipyard in south coastal Andhra. If needed, the Center can opt for a site at Nakkapalle near Visakhapatnam.

The fact that the Government of India could not access a single acre of land in Andhra Pradesh should enlighten people on the magnitude of the politics of plunder under way in the State, said Dr. JP.