Lathicharge marks CM's Vizag visit

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, JUNE 2. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu's tour of the city was marked by incidents of lathi-charge on demonstrators protesting against the hike in electricity charges. Though a warm welcome was accorded to him on his arrival by the regular flight at Visakhapatnam airport, agitating CITU and Congress workers raised slogans against him all along the route to the venue of his programmes.

The CITU workers, including several women, tried to block his convoy at the NAD Kotha Road junction and were lathicharged by the police. This was repeated near Madhavadhara where he laid the foundation stone for a Rs. 8-crore housing colony and in front of the Rs. 60-lakh M.V.P. Colony Rythu Bazar, which he inaugurated later.

Talking to reporters at Thotlakonda, an ancient Buddhist site about 20 km. from here on the Bheemunipatnam Road, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the Congress and Communist parties had taken to the streets in protest against the issue although the Electricity Regulatory Commission existed in the State under their rule and they had been implementing its decisions.

``The Regulatory Commission is an independent authority. I wonder why they have taken to the streets,'' he said.

Admitting that there were some `problems' with respect to domestic category, he said the only thing the Government could do was to subsidise a part of the amount on `social and political compulsions.' He revealed that 5 to 6 of his Cabinet colleagues sat together and thought about the issue and had come to the decision that unless the burden was reduced to some extent, it would be difficult. A decision had to be taken before Sunday and, therefore, the Government would make an announcement on reduction of charges in a day or two, he stated.

Good governance promised

Speaking after unveiling the foundation stone (through remote control) for phase II of the pelletisation plant, he said Visakhapatnam was on the road to becoming the ``IT (information technology) capital of the State'' when it would soon have the international fibre optic connectivity with 37 countries, and from this point all other metros and cities in the country will be linked.

The Rs. 1,700-crore pelletisation plant of the Hy-Grade Pellets Limited (HGPL) is a joint venture of Essar Steel and the Stemcor Group of the UK.

Mr. Naidu congratulated Mr. Shashi N. Ruia, Essar Group chairman, on setting up an eco-friendly infrastructure plant which had the potential to fetch Rs. 700 crores as foreign exchange annually.

``A significant feature I like in this project is that the iron ore will be brought from Bailadilla to Visakhapatnam through a 267-km. slurry pipeline, through which the port city will also get 3.3 million cubic metres of water daily which can be utilised for industrial purposes. We need such beneficial projects,'' the Chief Minister told Mr. Ruia.

Policemen punching protesters who held a demonstration before the Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, at the MVP Colony Rythu Bazar, Visakhapatnam, which he inaugurated on Friday. - Photo: K. R. Deepak.

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