Nagaram villagers stop Botcha, Chiranjeevi in their tracks
RAJAHMUNDRY: Former Union minister K Chiranjeevi and former PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana along with several other Congress leaders faced the wrath of the people at Nagaram village of Mamidikuduru mandal here Sunday, when they went to visit the bereaved families of the GAIL gas pipeline blast. The villagers gheraoed Chiranjeevi, Botcha Satyanarayana and C Ramachandraiah asking them to leave the village.
The Congress leaders had to plead with the villagers to let them visit the victims and ensure better relief for the kith and kin of the bereaved families and the injured persons.
The people wanted the Congress leaders to answer why the latter should be allowed to visit the village when they failed to solve the problem during the Congress regime. The villagers are not sparing any leader who is visiting the village to offer sympathies to the victims and accusing them of gaining political mileage through such visits.
Congress senior leaders Harsha Kumar, V Hanumantha Rao and YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who visited the village on Saturday, also met with a similar fate. The local leaders of the parties concerned took pains to pacify the irate villagers and promised all necessary help to them.
'We lost everything in the mishap. Where were these leaders when we beseeched them to shift the gas pipelines or requested them to ensure the implementation of safety measures? They are not here to ensure our safety nor do they empathise with us, but only want to derive political mileage,' alleged an irate villager.
After a quick tour of the blast site with the help of local Congress leaders, Chiranjeevi demanded an ex gratia of `30 lakh and a job by GAIL management to each bereaved family.
He blamed the GAIL management for its failure to ensure implementation of proper safety precautions. 'The gas pipeline explosion is a glaring example of the negligent attitude of GAIL management. The pipelines located in the middle of the residential areas should be shifted immediately,' he demanded.
Botcha wanted the government to initiate stringent legal action against the GAIL authorities who are responsible for the incident as their negligence had cost 19 lives. He alleged that the GAIL authorities were not maintaining the pipelines properly and do not have enough machinery to prevent such incidents.
News Posted: 30 June, 2014
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