Demolition of building built by Naidu in Amaravati underway

Amaravati Demolition of a building adjacent to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidus residence on the banks of Krishna river here continued in full swing amid tension and tight security on Wednesday as the Andhra Pradesh High Court rejected the plea to put a stay on the demolitionAfter razing boundary wall pantry dining hall toilets and other structures on Tuesday night the officials began demolishing the main building of Praja Vedika built by then Chief Minister Naidu in 2017 to hold official meetingsThe demolition began barely a few hours after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys firstever meeting with District Collectors and Superintendents of Police concluded at Praja VedikaHe announced that his governments drive against unauthorized constructions will begin with the demolition of this building built in river bed in violation of all normsCapital Region Development Authority CRDA Additional Commissioner Vijay Krishnan was supervising the demolition workAmid a tense atmosphere at Undavalli workers continued the demolition through the night even as Naidu returned from his foreign trip and drove to his house Police diverted traffic to prevent other leaders and workers of Telugu Desam Party TDP from reaching the areaIn another late night development Andhra Pradesh High Court declined to stay the demolitionA public interest litigation filed by social activist P Srinivas Rao was heard by a division bench of the High Court after 230 am Alleging that the public money was being wasted with the demolition the petitioner sought immediate orders to stop itJustice Sitarama Murti and Justice G Syam Prasad heard the arguments of the petitioners counsel Advocate General Sriram Subramanyam submitted the governments contention and opposed any stay orderThe court declined to pass the stay orders and adjourned the hearing by two weeksPraja Vedika peoples grievance cell was built by the then TDP government as an extension to then Chief Minister Naidus residence in 2017 Built at a cost of Rs 5 crore it was being used by Naidu for official purposes as well as to hold party meetingsAs TDP lost power to YSR Congress Party YSRCP last month Leader of Opposition Naidu on June 4 wrote to the Chief Minister to allow him to use the building to hold the meetingsIn a dramatic development the YSRCP government took possession of the building on Saturday and decided to hold twoday meeting of District Collectors and SPs at the same venueJagan Reddy on Monday said that since this building was built in violation of all laws and rules his government will demolish it on Wednesday He reiterated this on Tuesday and alleged that even the house where Naidu is living is illegalThe Chief Minister said all the constructions which have come up on the banks of the river in violation of various legislation and rules would be demolishedReacting sharply to Jagan Reddys decision the TDP has called it vendetta politics Claiming that the building was constructed by the government as per the rules and regulations the opposition party alleged that the Chief Minister ordered its demolition so that their leader does not get itCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates