Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu has decried the arrest of the members of a fact-finding team of the party when they were on their way to the reserve forests on the borders of the Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, where illegal bauxite mining activities were allegedly going on.
“The government should order a CBI inquiry into the allegations if it claims that there is no illegal bauxite mining,” he said.
In a statement on Friday, the former Chief Minister sought to know as to why the State government was afraid if there were no illegal mining activities in the agency area. The YSRCP leaders were afraid that the illegal mining would get exposed if the TDP team visited the site, he said.
“Why was the government preventing the TDP leaders from visiting the site. A CBI inquiry into the unlawful bauxite mining, which is being carried out in the name of laterite excavation, is necessary,” said the TDP chief. He also expressed concern that the illegal mining was posing a threat to the tribal population living in the area.
‘Violation of tribal rights’
“Such mining activities in the reserve forests amounts to violation of the rights of tribal residents. There seems to be no end to the greed of the YSRCP leaders. It is atrocious on the part of the police who are helping the illegal mining mafia, instead of stopping such activities,” he added.
