Nellore: The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded that the Centre disclose the objections raised by Isro engineers and environmentalists against the proposed port at Dugarajapatnam.
Referring to speculations over rethinking on the port proposal, BJP senior leader Karnati Anjaneya Reddy has demanded that the government reveal the reasons without hiding any facts.
He suspected that some Congress leaders have lobbied for port despite objections from various quarters to make huge gains from real-estate ventures in the lands belonging to them in the area.
Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, he stressed the need for a study on the impact of port on Nelapattu birds’ sanctuary and Pulicat Lake while referring to their proximity to Dugarajapatnam.
“Minimum depth should be not less than 16 metres to setup a port as per the norms but the depth is very low in the place selected for port now. The government may have to spend hundreds of crores to achieve the depth.
It is also surprising as to how the port proposal was cleared when environmental restrictions are in force in view of Pulicat Lake and Nelapattu Birds Sanctuary located nearby. Forest department not even allowed bitumen roads in the region identified for Port under the pretext of birds’ sanctuary since decades.
Moreover, the security of Isro’s only rocket launching centre in the country will be at stake if the Port becomes a reality since vessels and people from different countries throng the port on daily basis,” Anjaneya Reddy observed.
He said that he is going to submit a report on the subject to party senior leaders including Arun Jaitely and Sushma Swaraj apart from M. Venkaiah Naidu soon. He stressed that he is not against establishing a port but it should be done after clearing the doubts being expressed about the location.
