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Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Monday warned the ruling YSR Congress Party against handing over Machilipatnam (Bandar) port to Telangana.
Taking to Twitter, Naidu alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government is trying to hand over the port to Telangana by secretly passing a Government Order. He said that the government does not have any right to take such a decision independently and warned, “For your friendship and personal gains, if you spend state’s assets, the TDP won’t tolerate.”
In a series of tweets, the ex CM alleged, “Bandar port remained neglected for decades together. But our government revived it by establishing Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority in 2017 March. But after the YSRCP came to power, they are making efforts to give the port to Telangana. On June 28, 2019, they released a ‘secret’ G.O. and within two days when we questioned them in Assembly, they denied it.”
“But the works to hand over the port to Telangana is happening behind the screens,” he alleged.
“Seemandhra ports are nature’s gift, and nobody has a right to take independent decision on such ports,” Naidu said.
However, recently, state Industries and Commerce Minister M Goutham Reddy addressing in the Assembly clarified there is no truth to such claims, and said that the government has no plans to give away the port to Telangana.
బందరు పోర్టును ఏళ్ళ తరబడి నిర్లక్ష్యం చేస్తుంటే... మచిలీపట్నం డీప్‌ వాటర్‌పోర్టు, పోర్టు ఆధారిత పారిశ్రామిక కారిడార్ అభివృద్ధికి మా తెదేపా ప్రభుత్వం నడుం కట్టింది. ఇందుకోసం మచిలీపట్నం పట్టణాభివృద్ధి సంస్థను 2017 మార్చిలో ఏర్పాటుచేసాం. pic.twitter.com/5THYMOi3UD
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) July 29, 2019
కానీ పోర్టును తెలంగాణకు అప్పగించే ప్రయత్నాలు తెర వెనుక జరుగుతూనే ఉన్నాయి. సీమాంధ్రకు పోర్టులు ప్రకృతి ఇచ్చిన వరం. ఇలాంటి పోర్టుల పై సొంత నిర్ణయాలు తీసుకునే అధికారం ఎవరికీలేదు. మీ స్నేహాలకు, సొంత లాలూచీలకు రాష్ట్ర ఆస్తులను ధారాదత్తం చేస్తామంటే తెదేపా సహించదు.
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) July 29, 2019
“It is rumoured on social media that the government will give away the Machilipatnam port to Telangana. There is not an iota of truth in it. It requires Central government permission,” the minister said in response to the question by Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu of the YSRCP.
The bonhomie between KCR, Chief Minister of Telangana and Jagan Mohan Reddy is well-known. Jagan was the first leader to become a part of KCR’s Federal Front - a coalition of regional parties- during the 2019 elections.
After winning the elections, KCR attended Jagan’s swearing-in, and in turn, Jagan was invited for the inauguration of Kaleshwaram project.
The Machilipatnam remained neglected for several decades after Independence. However, in 2008, the then Congress government under YS Rajasekara Reddy proposed a plan to develop the port. The project was bagged by Maytas of the Satyam group. But after the Satyam scandal - in which the founder B Ramalinga Raju was convicted of financial irregularities - the contract was scrapped and the project was then awarded to the Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd in 2010.
However, the project remained in the back burner. After coming to power in 2014, Chandrababu Naidu government announced reviving the port to its past glory.
The port is to be developed in a Public Private Partnership model by M/s Machilipatnam Limited (M/s. MPL). The government had issued a notification of acquiring 33,000 acres of land for the project, and there is still opposition from fishermen community to the project.