Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) has begun demolishing ‘illegal’ constructions along the banks of the Krishna river in Amaravati. The illegal constructions include the house where former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has been staying since 2016 after he moved from Hyderabad.
Recently, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government had served a notice to owners to vacate the ‘illegally constructed’ houses.
Lingamaneni Ramesh, who is the owner of the house taken on rent by the TDP chief, was served a final notice by the APCRDA on September 19 and asked to raze the ‘unauthorised construction’ within seven days.
Read | Former Andhra CM Naidu’s home in Amaravati to be demolished, given 7 days to vacate
The first notice was received on June 27, after which Ramesh sent a reply, but the APCRDA did not find it ‘satisfactory’. The notice stated that the six acre property, with a ground floor with reinforced concrete structures, a swimming pool, helipad, first-floor residence and 10 temporary sheds were all within 100 metres of the river and built without permission.
The ruling YSR Congress Party has claimed that the house where Naidu lived when he was chief minister was illegally built.
On Monday, APCRDA officials demolished another illegal building owned by TDP leader Koteswara Rao near Naidu's home at Undavalli village.
At least 24 buildings are suspected to have been built illegally along the river, according to the APCRDA. The infrastructure body sent ‘confirmation orders’ to demolish five buildings after it did not find the explanation by their owners convincing enough. The other ‘explanations’ are being examined, the APCRDA said.
Earlier this year, a Rs 8-crore conference hall, Praja Vedike, built by the former chief minister, was razed by the ruling YSR Congress Party government that came to power with a massive mandate this year. Naidu had written to Reddy on June 4 to allow him to retain the hall so that he could work from there as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.
