Andhra Pradesh high court forms committee to assess environmental damage at Bheemunipatnam beach

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday constituted a committee to assess the damage done to the environment due to the illegal structures in the coastal regulation zone (CRZ-1) area at Bheemunipatnam beach in Visakhapatnam. The HC also directed Visakhapatnam municipal authorities to recover the costs incurred for the removal of illegal structures. Expressing displeasure at the lackadaisical attitude of officials, the court further directed the removal of the entire structure, including the 6ft deep concrete foundation laid under the sand.Jana Sena corporator P Murthy Yadav moved the high court with a PIL petition challenging the inaction of municipal authorities in removing illegal constructions made by the company owned by Penaka Neha Reddy, daughter of former YSRCP MP V Vijaysai Reddy. The high court earlier directed the revenue and municipal authorities to conduct a survey and remove all illegal structures made in the CRZ area. The officials recently submitted a report stating that they have removed all illegal structures from the area.However, senior counsel KS Murthy, who appeared for Murthy Yadav, told the court that the wall above the ground level was removed, but the concrete foundation, which is 588 metres long and 6ft deep, was still there under the sand. He said when the survey team visited the spot, the concrete foundation was intentionally buried in the sand.Taking a serious note of the submissions, the HC bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi pulled up the officials for not removing the concrete foundation and not mentioning it in the report. The court directed the member secretary of coastal zone management authority (CZMA) to lodge a complaint to initiate criminal proceedings against the violators who made the constructions. The court further directed the Union govt to constitute a committee with experts from the Institute of Oceanography and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to assess the damage and recover the costs from the violators.In another petition filed on the same issue over the running of resto bars in the CRZ area, the court directed the committee headed by the district collector to conduct a survey by taking the explanation of owners of the said bars and submit a report within three weeks.Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday constituted a committee to assess the damage done to the environment due to the illegal structures in the coastal regulation zone (CRZ-1) area at Bheemunipatnam beach in Visakhapatnam. The HC also directed Visakhapatnam municipal authorities to recover the costs incurred for the removal of illegal structures. Expressing displeasure at the lackadaisical attitude of officials, the court further directed the removal of the entire structure, including the 6ft deep concrete foundation laid under the sand.Jana Sena corporator P Murthy Yadav moved the high court with a PIL petition challenging the inaction of municipal authorities in removing illegal constructions made by the company owned by Penaka Neha Reddy, daughter of former YSRCP MP V Vijaysai Reddy. The high court earlier directed the revenue and municipal authorities to conduct a survey and remove all illegal structures made in the CRZ area. The officials recently submitted a report stating that they have removed all illegal structures from the area.However, senior counsel KS Murthy, who appeared for Murthy Yadav, told the court that the wall above the ground level was removed, but the concrete foundation, which is 588 metres long and 6ft deep, was still there under the sand. He said when the survey team visited the spot, the concrete foundation was intentionally buried in the sand.Taking a serious note of the submissions, the HC bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi pulled up the officials for not removing the concrete foundation and not mentioning it in the report. The court directed the member secretary of coastal zone management authority (CZMA) to lodge a complaint to initiate criminal proceedings against the violators who made the constructions. The court further directed the Union govt to constitute a committee with experts from the Institute of Oceanography and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to assess the damage and recover the costs from the violators.In another petition filed on the same issue over the running of resto bars in the CRZ area, the court directed the committee headed by the district collector to conduct a survey by taking the explanation of owners of the said bars and submit a report within three weeks.