The Hindu 28.03.2013
‘Garbage dumping: villagers win first round’
19 persons, including union leader, released on bail.
By securing a stay from High Court on Anakapalle
Municipality from dumping the town’s garbage in their village under
Sundarayyapeta Panchayat, people of Achayyapeta and those supporting
them, won the first round, general secretary of AP Vyavasaya
Vrittidarula Union P.S. Ajay Kumar said on Wednesday.
Mr.
Ajay Kumar and 19 others, who were arrested after the police used force
to disperse the villagers to facilitate Anakapalle Municipality to dump
garbage at the village, were released from the Anakapalle sub-jail on
Wednesday after the Fifth Metropolitan Magistrate of Anakapalle granted
them bail the previous day.
Mr. Ajay Kumar said the
Municipal Commissioner, District Collector, local tehsildar and Deputy
Superintendent of Police did not bother to take into consideration
orders issued in the past by a Division Bench of the High Court barring
municipalities from dumping their garbage outside their municipal
limits.
Along with this Division Bench’s order the
villagers also pointed out in their writ petition that the Anakapalle
Municipality did not secure permission from the local gram panchayat and
the AP Pollution Control Board for the dumping yard.
The
villagers were critical of local MLA and Minister for Investments and
Infrastructure Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who they said had won the election
on the plank of social justice but declared war on them, and provoked
the police to attack the villager. However, the agitation against
dumping garbage in the village would continue till the dumping yard was
cancelled, the villagers said.
Chalo Achayyapeta
Mr.
Ajay Kumar announced that a Chalo Achayyapeta programme will be
conducted on Sunday morning in which representatives of the people’s
organisations, the left parties, former sarpanches and MPTCs and people
from surrounding villages who supported the agitation would participate.
The meeting would commence at 11 a.m.
The
villagers demanded the government cancel the allotment of 22 acres made
to the Anakapalle Municipality at Achayyapeta; initiate departmental
action against the Municipal Commissioner, tehsildar and Deputy
Superintendent of Police of Anakapalle and transfer them to ensure an
impartial inquiry. They demanded an apology from Mr. Srinivasa Rao for
the March 22 incident at the village when the police arrested people and
chased away the local villagers to allow dumping of garbage.
The garbage dumped at the village must be removed immediately and cases against the 20 people withdrawn, the villagers demanded.
Rally
On
Tuesday night the villagers took out a rally after hearing the High
Court ruling and grant of bail to Mr. Ajay Kumar and others. Leader of
united front of people’s organisations I.R. Gangadhar, P. Chennayya,
Eggada Bhaskara Rao and others said the villagers were not against
residents of Sarada Nagar, who have opposed dumping of garbage near
their homes, but against dumping of garbage from the town at their
village.