TDP alleges Rs 15k crore bauxite mining scam in Vizag

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Tuesday alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government has indulged in Rs 15,000 crore bauxite mining scam in Visakhapatnam district.

"The AP government has laid a road for the YSRCP mafia to steal bauxite in the manyam (forest) region of Vizag district. A 30 feet wide road was laid over a 14 km stretch in the protected forest region," alleged Lokesh.

He claimed that the government built this road in record 24 days' time, including allegedly felling 10,000 trees to make way for heavy vehicles. "The Jagan Reddy government is covering up the issue, saying it laid the road to link a remote village of 250 people," the TDP's second in command claimed.

Similarly, TDP state president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu echoed Lokesh's allegations. "This is where the great Alluri Seetharama Raju fought the Britishers using guerrilla warfare," claimed Atchannaidu about the location of the alleged mining. According to the opposition party leaders, the mining location is rich in biodiversity, hosting many threatened species, including elephants, leopards and sloth bears. Meanwhile, mining principal secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi clarified that no bauxite mining is happening in the state. He highlighted that some media houses unnecessarily are disseminating fake news and even threatened to drag them to Court through defamation cases.