Former Minister and senior leader of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and a number of TDP leaders, who were heading to Rushikonda to stage a protest against the construction on Rushikonda, were arrested by the city police on Sunday. The TDP leaders have initiated the protest to mark World Environment Day.
Initially, there was mild altercation when the TDP leaders questioned the police why they were not being allowed to the hill. The Opposition party members suspected that in the name of tourism the State government was having other plans at Rushikonda.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Murthy alleged that massive destruction has been going on the hill, which was severely impacting the environment. He said that the YSRCP government was conducting World Environment Day programmes and on the flipside, hundreds of trees are being uprooted at Rushikonda, which was a very well-known tourist hotspot.
Some of the women TDP leaders demanded that the government announce what was planned at Rushikonda. They also alleged serious violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms at the project.
