Vijayawada, Sep 9 (IANS) Two persons were arrested by police in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada in the incident relating to the collision of five boats with the Prakasam Barrage during the recent floods.
Ushadri, owner of three of the boats, and Komatireddy Rammohan were arrested and produced before a court, which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.
Police are likely to seek their custody for questioning if there was any conspiracy behind the incident to damage Prakasam Barrage.
The arrests came hours after Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Ramanaidu alleged that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and that investigations are on.
He told media persons that strict action would be taken against those who tried to harm farmers.
The minister said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has taken serious note of the incident. He said there was a conspiracy behind five boats hitting the Prakasam Barrage in a crucial situation where 11.42 lakh cusecs of flood water were flowing.
A thorough investigation is on to find out the facts about the incident.
Five boats weighing 40-50 tonnes each crossed gates 67, 69, and 70 of the Prakasam Barrage during high floods and hit the counterweight but fortunately, did not cause any damage to the main structure or the gates of the barrage.
It is difficult to imagine how much damage would be done to the five districts if the gates or the main structure had really been hit, he said.
The minister said a police complaint was filed by the Irrigation Department. Farmers and farmers’ associations say that this whole incident raises many suspicions. Such heavy boats are usually anchored on the river bank. With each boat valued at Rs 40-50 lakh, tying 3 boats with a single plastic rope raises a lot of doubts.
Suspicions are being raised that such valuable boats were deliberately made to collide with the barrage.
Ramanaidu said out of the total five boats, one boat went down through the gate and three boats were stuck. Efforts were to find the fifth boat. The owner of the three identified boats was said to be a follower of a leader of the YSR Congress Party. He said the boats also have the colour of the YSR Congress Party, he said.
The minister mentioned that the barrage served the combined Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and West Godavari districts for about 100 years from 1854 to 1952. After it was damaged by the floods in 1952, the government reconstructed it and named it after former Chief Minister Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu.
Since 1957, about 13.8 lakh acres have been irrigated and drinking water has been provided to lakhs of people through the Prakasam Barrage.
–IANS
ms/vd
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
