Date:08/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100852700300.htm

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Andhra Pradesh

Advocates’ panel on Kolleru takes officials to task

Staff Reporter

Delay in fixing sanctuary boundaries criticised

‘Misinformation’ on depth of a fish pond irks panel member
Displeasure over blame game by nodal agencies

Photo: M. ANIL KUMAR

Ground reality: Member of the Advocates’ Committee J. Prabhakar Rao and others wading through a stream in Kolleru on Sunday. —

EURU: The three-member Committee of Advocates constituted by the High Court on Kolleru on Sunday took serious note of the delay in fixing of sanctuary boundaries.

The committee, comprising J. Prabhakar Rao, Y. Srinivasa Murthy and T. Durga Reddy, waded through knee-deep water in the Kolleru falling under Bhimadole and Nidamarru mandals in a bid to get a first hand information on the fate of the lake after the ‘Operation Kolleru’ programme.

They found a “feasible situation” for fish farming on commercial lines in several dismantled ponds due to what it called “half-hearted measures” by the administration in removal of ponds.

Untouched structures

They also noticed roads, sheds, oil engines and other structures that remained untouched near the dismantled ponds in the plus five contour, providing a possibility of restoration of pisciculture by reviving the dismantled tanks.

Pointing out the “half-baked” operation pertaining to a fishpond near Kodukollu in Bhimadole mandal, Mr. Prabhakar Rao asked a revenue official whether the pond could be revived for fish farming. The official said it was of no use as the depth is less than five feet. The committee member then asked one of the onlookers to stand in the pond and serve himself as an indicator for the real depth of the pond. As the water level was found to be neck-deep, the committee member admonished the authorities for their “misinformation.”

When the committee pulled up the top brass in the Forest Department for their failure in fixing the boundaries for the sanctuary even a year after the Operation Kolleru programme, the forest officials blamed it on the Revenue Department. The forest personnel failed to fix boundaries for want of records and maps to be submitted by revenue authorities, it was said.

Directive

Expressing serious displeasure over the blame game being indulged in by the two nodal agencies, the committee asked the district administration to get ready with all the records and maps during its next visit in November first week.