Pawan Assures to Address Issues of Uppada Fishermen Within 100 Days
The Deputy Chief Minister said he is making efforts to construct a permanent wall at Uppada to stop the sea erosion and save villages.
Kakinada: Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan has assured fishermen that within 100 days, a road map would be prepared to check the release of industrial waste into the sea at Uppada, which will become a model to prevent pollution of other coastal areas in the state. Addressing fishermen and the people at the Uppada Centre in U. Kothapalli mandal of Kakinada district on Thursday, Pawan Kalyan maintained that it is the policy of the state government to encourage industrialisation while at the same time taking pollution control measures to ensure eco-friendly growth.
The Deputy CM reiterated that along with fishermen representatives and officials, he would visit the Uppada seacoast to assess the industrial waste being released into the sea waters by the Aurobindo, Divis, other pharmaceutical companies and other industries in the Nakkapalli Special Economic Zone. Pawan Kumar pointed out that Nakkapalli SEZ had come up in 2005 when late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had been the Chief Minister of AP. The pollution problem has continued since then. He underlined that a permanent solution would be found to eliminate pollution of the sea and improve the livelihood conditions of fishermen in the region.
The Deputy Chief Minister said he is making efforts to construct a permanent wall at Uppada to stop the sea erosion and save villages. Pawan said he is pressuring the Central government to release ₹324 crore for taking up the work. “I am ready to quit my post if I do not build the coastal wall,” Pawan Kalyan declared. He underlined that the coastal protection works, like laying roads, are already being taken up at a cost of ₹5.65 crore under the MGNREGS funds. He disclosed that due to the fault in design of the fishing harbour in U. Kothapalli mandal, many boats and nets are getting damaged. Steps will be taken up to resolve this issue too, he said.
Earlier, the Deputy CM convened a meeting with officials, MLAs and fishermen representatives and discussed the issues of fishermen along the Kakinada coast. The fishermen leaders said that during the ban on fishing in sea during the breeding season, no one will take up fishing. At the same time, they requested the state government to order industries not to release any industrial waste into the sea during the period.
“Only then, fish wealth can increase in the sea,” they maintained.
Fishermen pointed out that ONGC and other oil exploration companies are paying compensation to fishing communities wherever they are exploring oil. On the same lines, compensation should be paid to fishermen of the areas where industrial waste is being released into the sea. Those who attended the meeting included MLAs Nimmakalaya China Rajappa, Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao, Pantham Nanaji and Yanamala Divya, ZP vice chairman B. Anubabu, DCCB chairman Tummala Ramaswamy, and MLCs Karri Padma Sri and P. Rajasekhar.
