Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The letter that sparked the Reddy brothers’ rebellion




The letter that sparked the Reddy brothers’ rebellion and rocked the B.S. Yeddyurappa government, is in DC’s possession.
Addressed to “Dear Kapil Sibalji’ the minister for science and technology in the previous Dr Manmohan Singh government, the Chief Minister wrote to the Centre in February ’09, asking for a survey of the “disputed border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh” in the mineral rich Bellary Reserve Forest.
The letter, said to be behind the move to bring down the BSY government that the clearly annoyed mining barons-turnedpoliticians initiated, has Mr Yeddyurappa saying, “There were allegations of mining companies in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, indulging in illegal activities, taking advantage of the dispute.”
There is an apprehension this has resulted in a huge loss of revenue to the state.
Mr Yeddyurappa's letter dated February 2, 2009 requests the union minister to instruct the director general, Survey of India, Dehradun, to jointly survey the disputed boundary line passing through BRF in Bellary, Karnataka and Ananthpur, Andhra Pradesh.
He adds, “Although this matter was taken up with Andhra Pradesh government, the required co-operation has not been forthcoming.
Lokayukta has drawn the attention of the state government to this dispute and has advised to approach the Indian government for an amicable settlement...” Much to the embarrassment of revenue minister G Karunakar Reddy, his own department principal secretary, D. Thangaraj, wrote to the director general, Survey of India, on January 16, 2009 appealing for a joint survey of the disputed area.
The government’s stand is different from that of minister Mr Reddy who, in his writ appeal filed before the high court of judicature in Andhra Pradesh, argued that directing the Survey of India at this stage to verify the existence or re-fixation of the GTS points to determine the boundary line was “unsustainable”. He claimed the GTS points had lost their relevance as an Andhra Pradesh high level committee had already fixed the vil lage boundary between Obulapuram and Siddapuram.
The Dr U V Singh Committee report on illegal mining said the GTS points at Sugglammagudda hillock ( in Andhra Pradesh) and Timmappanagudda hillock (in Karnataka) were destroyed in mining.
Tapal Ganesh, co-owner Tumati Iron Ore Mines company, says only re-fixing of the two original GTS points can help assess the actual extent of encroachment.

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