Oppn should stop bad propaganda on coastal corridor:Minister

Hyderabad, Oct 17 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Minister for Infrastructure and Investment, Ports and Airports M Venkata Ramana Rao today alleged that the opposition parties in the state were carrying out propaganda on the coastal corridor.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the state Government had taken up the coastal corridor to uplift the economic conditions of the people in the coastal areas and to improve the infrastructure there.

He said the opposition should not indulge in propaganda on the coastal corridor without verifying facts.

He said with a view to laying a road between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, a study would be conducted by L and T Lombard. The International Finance Consultancy had come forward to give suggestions on laying of the road under the first phase.

Refuting Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu's charge that the state government had acquired 1.76 lakh acres of land in nine districts for the coastal corridor, he said the government had not acquired even a single acre of land.

The Minister said the government had decided to take up some developmental projects along the corridor and there was no proposal to establish industries, which would create pollution in the coastal areas.

He said 2000 acres had been acquired for the Petro Chemical factory and the construction of road was going on now. Another private company had already established two ports and two thermal power projects and decided to establish automobile industry and textile park in two districts of coastal area for its development.

He said the government had constituted a Cabinet Sub-committee to study the differences in the earlier norms and the present norms on the proposals sent by the Kakinada Port management.

He also refuted the charge of CPI State Secretary K Narayana that he had purchased 200 acres of land in Guntur and Prakasham districts under 'benami' names.

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