New Delhi, July 25: Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Saturday sought to distance himself from the decision taken by the Centre to keep in abeyance the controversial notification reserving 1.4 lakh acres in Khammam district for mining purposes.
“The Government of India received complaints that the reserved area comprises habitations and railway tracks. Therefore, the Centre advised the State government to take up a re-survey and until then, not allow any mining activity,” Rosaiah said in an informal chat with newsmen here.
After the land was reserved in favour of the AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), the latter entered into an MoU with a private firm, Rakshana Steels, for mining iron ore and setting up a steel plant. The private firm reportedly belongs to friends of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s soninlaw, Brother Anil Kumar.
The move turned controversial with the ruling party members as well as the Opposition slamming it saying it amounted to circumventing a Supreme Court order that disallows a private company or individual from taking up any activity in tribal notified areas.
Asked if the State Government would cancel the MoU in the wake of the Central directive, Rosaiah said such a power vested only with the Centre. The Chief Minister had, in fact, wanted a probe to be ordered into the signing of the MoU but backed out after his Cabinet colleagues advised against it.
POLVARAM: Rosaiah, who earlier in the day pleaded for the national project status for Polavaram at the National Development Council meeting here, said he was not sure when the Prime Minister would consider the State’s request. “I cannot ask him about it at the meeting,” he quipped.
On TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu’s controversial Maharashtra trip, Rosaiah revealed that the AP government had borne the expenses for the special flight in which the Telugu Desam leaders were flown to Hyderabad from Aurangabad. “May be, they would not have boarded the flight if they knew about it,” the chief minister said in a sarcastic tone.
–Agencies