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It was Bauxite ‘Whitewash Paper’ : Vundavalli

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Former Congress MP from Rajahmundry Vundavalli Arunkumar said the white Paper released on Bauxite by TDP government was in fact ‘Whitewash Paper’. Because, the paper, instead of placing facts before the public, sought to distort the facts and provided inaccurate data meant to mislead the public.

Arun Kumar, once staunch supporter of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, quit the Congress following the party’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. He did not join YS Jagan later. But, of late, it is said, he is inching towards the YSR Congress. For quite some time, he is on war path with the TDP government. Against this background, Arunkumar took on Naidu government’s bauxite white paper.

He said he was ready for public debate on the so called white paper of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu since the bauxite mining was a burning issue and it was he who was responsible for whole contoversy . He asked Naidu to tell the people of the state who had opened the bauxite controversy in Andhra Pradesh first.

“We would have appreciated if the government had come out with the facts. Everyone knows that it was chief minister Chandrababu Naidu who brought the bauxite issue to the fore first. Now the CM is indulging mudslinging on YSR and his son to cover up his culpability,” he said.

Stating that Tribal Advisory Committee opposed when Naidu proposed the bauxite mining during his previous tenure as Chief Minister, the former Rajahmundry MP said the TAC had also opposed the similar proposal tabled by the late YSR government.

“Surprisingly, the chief minister Naidu is now trying to divert the attention of the public from the real origins of the controversy and hiding his role in the blame game,” Arunkumar said.

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Why AP went back on its move to mine bauxite in tribal areas?

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AP dumps bauxite mining move due to a strict no to the move by the security agencies and growing YSRCP image in North Coastal Districts.

Visakhapatnam: There is more than meets the eye in Andhra Pradesh government going back on its proposed move to mine the bauxite in the tribal belt of Visakhapatnam reserved forest areas. The issue which has been discussed extensively during the State cabinet meet on Monday, expressed dismay over the issue of a government order without the knowledge of the Chief Minister, as well as the forest minister. However, it was assumed that an earlier state government order has been approved forest clearance to Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), on the basis of the Government of India (GoI) nod over a pending application, for mining the bauxite.
But, insiders say that though the State government is all in favour of mining bauxite, and made a move to convince the tribal people in the Paderu Sub Division Area, under which the bauxite mines are located. However, it has to dump the proposed move following, a briefing from the security agencies and for political reasons.

Firstly, the state security agencies had told in clear terms that the Maoist activities in the Andhra Pradesh side have very low since last five to six years. This was due to a proactive pursuit adopted by the security agencies, and also, the tribal people in the area were fed up with getting into cross fire between the security agencies and the Maoists. So, they were not as proactive as they used to be in extending cooperation to the Maoist groups in the state tribal belts. For, “the people in the area wanted to live in peace, and wanted development like roads, better health facilities, schools and the like.” And, continued disturbance in their areas due to the Maoist and the state security agencies fighting with each others had brought untold hardships to them from both sides. In several instances, while the security agencies took some of tribal people being sympathisers of the Maoists, on the other, the Maoists charging, them being police informers. They could not bear getting sandwiched between the two. It was for this reason, the tribal areas under Chintapalli, Narsipatnam and Paderu areas have been living in peace for several years, when the domination of the Maoists had receded from the areas, and has been confined only to the villages and areas, bordering Andhra Pradesh – Chhattisgarh and Odisha states. But, if the government goes ahead with its move to mine the bauxite which the tribal population is strongly opposing, then, it might give an opportunity to the Maoists to stage a comeback and claim the areas from which they had virtually withdrew. And, there is every possibility that the local tribal people could once again extend their cooperation to the Maoists. This was in precise the brief that has been relayed to the government security agencies. Also, at a time when the state has been passing through a rough patch due to the bifurcation blues, and if the Maoists step up their activities, then, the state will have to bear the burden of substantial part of its resources to provide a back up to the security agencies to take on the Maoists. It was due to this briefing, the state government has reportedly put a halt on going ahead with the mining of bauxite.

From the political angle, the government is worried about the growing clout of the YSRCP in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, consisting Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram district. It “all started with Bhogapuram International Airport Project. People in the area have been vehemently opposing the government move to acquire thousands of acres of lands. The YSRCP had effectively cashed on this issue and has made considerable political gains against the ruling party. Any move on mining bauxite would further dent the image of the party and the government. On condition of anonymity a senior minister from North Coastal AP said, “YSRCP has made considerable gains in last 18-months. Unless, steps are taken forming with effective coordination between the party and government, there is every possibility that the YSRCP could make the displeasure of the people towards the government into a vote bank.” This issue too has played a key role in the government halting its decision over giving permission to APMDC, to go ahead with the mining of bauxite

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Bauxite battle : Maoists Kindnap 3 TDP leaders

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After a long gap Maoists have jolted the state government with an abduction. In recent times, the Maoist party faced several setbacks starting from the killing of their top leader Azad by the police in united Andhra Pradesh to the recent brutal killing of two students in Telangana, one of them a girl student, was killed after torturing by dousing acid in her private parts. Today, surfacing again for a cause, they abducted three TDP local leaders from G.K. Veedhi, Visakhapatnam. According to the information reaching Hyderabad, the incident took place on Monday evening. Of late, Maoists, who are opposed to the mining of Bauxite, are making their existence felt.

Telugu Desam party Mandal committee president Mamidi Balayya Padal, senior leader Vandalam Balayya and district committee member Mukkala Mahesh have been picked up from their houses at Kothaguda village on Monday evening by a group of Maoists, according police sources.

On Tuesday morning CPI (Maoist) party east division secretary Kailasam has sent a letter opposing the Bauxite mining. In the letter, he demanded that bauxite mining plans be stopped and , paramilitary forces deployed in the Agency be withdrawn. They also demanded that harassing the tribals who were opposed to the bauxite mining also be stopped.

The whereabouts of the kidnapped is not known. More incidents are likely to take place once the government gives go-ahead to the mining of bauxite by Anrak and Jindal Southwest companies.
According to sources in the government, chief minister Naidu is in favor exploiting the bauxite with some changes in the MoU signed in order mobilize funds to the capital construction. As environmentalist are opposed to the mining of bauxite which is located in the ecologically sensitive areas in the agency which is water source for Visakhapatnam district, Naidu is reportedly hesitating to make his intention public. But, the deployment of paramilitary forces in the agency is a clear indication to the plans of government.

Telugu360 is always open for the best and bright journalists. If you are interested in full-time or freelance, email us at Krishna@telugu360.com.

Bauxite Mining: Naidu Then and Now

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Politics is all about convenience. Your vocabulary changes depending upon your seat in Assembly- Treasury benches or opposition benches. Taking complete U turn Telugu Desam government is planning to exploit the bauxite ore available in Visakhapatnam district. According to sources in the Government and TDP, the party wants to reopen the negotiations with the companies which were given the license to mine the bauxite and produce alumina and aluminium . Even Kothapalli Gita, MP from Araku, into which the mining area falls, revealed that the mining activity would begin once chief minister takes a final decision . It is clear that TDP is actively considering the bauxite mining, ironically which stoutly opposed when chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy government gave license to Anrak, a gulf company to mine bauxite. Chief minister Naidu visited the areas in deep jungle and opposed this. See what Naidu said on November 18, 2010 about bauxite mining.

Talking to media in Visakhapatnam, then opposition leader in Assembly, Chandrababu Naidu opposed bauxite mining the Eastern Ghats of Visakhapatnam district., Naidu said, ” The Congress government should respect the public opinion and take note of concerns expressed by environmentalists.” Naidu visited the proposed bauxite mining sites near Anatagiri in Visakhapatnam district on November 18, 2010 before addressing the media. ” Congress government deals with Jindal Company and Ras-al-Khaima , be scrapped and no bauxite mining should be taken up,” he demanded.

At that time he was bold enough to admit that the his TDP government had once made the proposal to take up bauxite mining in the Visakhapatnam district. But, after heeding to public opinion, he said, he had retracted from the decision to mine the bauxite. He attacked the YSR Government, which gave the permits, by stating ” Congress was quite unmindful of the problems of girijans and was also ignoring the ecological issues. The deals have been struck with the companies in an underhand manner.”

Now in 2015, Naidu changed his tune. He is actively pursuing the mining of bauxite. So, the Left parties are planning to launch agitation to stop the bauxite mining from ecologically sensitive zone in Eastern Ghats. On Friday, all Left parties organized a round table in Vizag. These parties adopted a resolution which demanded the government to withdraw all plans to undertake the bauxite mining and protect the Girijan and environment.

They also demanded the TDP government to stop harassing the tribal people who were raising their voice against the reopening the bauxite mining. Leader participated in the meeting were, J V Satyanarayana Murthy, AJ Stalin, M Pydirraju (CPI),K Lokanadham, G Koteswara Rao (CPM), Y Kondiah (CPIML New Democracy), GVM Reddy (MCPI U), Ganesh Panda (CPIML), S Govindarajulu ( SUCI-C) etc.

Telugu360 is always open for the best and bright journalists. If you are interested in full-time or freelance, email us at Krishna@telugu360.com.

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