Andhra Pradesh high court pulls up officials over illegal buildings in CRZ area

Vijayawada: The high court on Wednesday criticised AP Coastal Regulation Zone Management Authority (APCRZMA) for failing to act against illegal constructions within the CRZ area at Bheemunipatnam beach in Visakhapatnam, and constituted a committee with the APCRZMA member secretary, GVMC commissioner, and Visakhapatnam district collector to conduct a survey and submit an action-taken report within one week.The high court had earlier directed officials to demolish all illegal constructions within the CRZ area after hearing a PIL filed by Jana Sena corporator PVLN Murthy Yadav over a house constructed by P Neha Reddy, daughter of Vijaysai Reddy, within the CRZ area. He urged the HC in the PIL to direct officials to remove all illegal constructions within the CRZ area.Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, senior counsel KS Murthy said following the earlier orders of the high court, officials removed some of the constructions completely, while some were partially removed. He said despite the court's orders, officials have failed to remove all illegal constructions from the CRZ area. He further stated that the culture of Visakhapatnam is getting spoiled due to rave parties being organised on the beaches.Another petition on the same issue was filed by Ganta Nukaraju, president of Gramabhivruddi Seva Sangham. Arguing on his behalf, N Joy said resto bars are being run from some of the buildings constructed in the CRZ area.Special govt pleader S Pranathi said the govt has directed APCRZMA to conduct a survey to identify any other buildings that fall under the CRZ area. She said they are yet to receive a report from APCRZMA to take further action.APCRZMA counsel, YS Raju, told the court that they are crippled due to shortage of surveyors. "We have written to the Bhimili tehsildar to depute a surveyor, but they said the survey dept comes under the zonal commissioner of GVMC. We are waiting for the surveyor to be deputed from the GVMC and will take appropriate action," he stated.Considering the arguments from all sides, the HC bench headed by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi expressed displeasure over the functioning of APCRZMA, observing that it is time for the officials to wake up. The high court constituted a committee to conduct a survey and take action against all illegal constructions. The bench further stated that if the action-taken report is not submitted within a week, the officials concerned should appear before the court.

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