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Maoist menace deals a blow to state's tourism

Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst affected states, despite Special Forces known as Grey Hounds hunting for the renegades in forests bordering neighbouring states.

But the Maoist groups, operating in several pockets of the state under different 'area commanders' have proved they are one up. As there is no clear-cut government policy to tackle the Maoist problem, except search operations that invariably end up in encounter killings, Maoists are able to run their writ in half the districts of the state.

Maoists' strategic strength has always been to spring a surprise and their targets are government properties. Often, the mute victims of their nefarious activities are passenger buses. Last week they focused their attention on boats run by the state's Tourism Development Corporation in Nagarjuna Sagar.

Two pairs of boats, one of them air-conditioned, set sail at an interval of one hour from the dam site to Nagarjuna Hill in the middle of the massive reservoir. Developed and maintained by the Archaeological Society of India, the museum on the hill houses the Buddhist era artefacts found during the project construction.

The one-way 45-minute ride itself is an exhilarating experience as the boat meanders around hills partly submerged in the reservoir's Krishna waters. It is one of the prime tourist spots in the state and attracts hundreds of visitors every day.

Maoists posing as tourists hijacked two boats and burned them later. In the process, they also abducted some passengers and crew who were released afterwards. It's a double blow to the TDC: Loss of boats and revenue.

After losing the two boats, the corporation has suspended the trips as it says it can't do with the remaining two. Moreover, it fears Maoists will repeat the 'Sagar adventure' elsewhere. The Tourism Corporation operates boats at some other places, including Srisailam, Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. Sightseeing boats at all these places are floating ducks for Maoists.

See-saw battle

PANCHAYAT elections, which are likely to be held next month, are rising the tempers between former and present chief ministers as much as the summer temperatures in the state. Their accusations have reached a crescendo in recent days and turned so personal that the two leaders look set for a duel.

The Congress party seems confident of securing nearly 90 per cent of the vote in panchayat polls whereas the Telugu Desam is finicky about hazarding a guess. Even before the poll schedule was announced, TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu had admitted that the party would not fare well. His statement gave a handle to Andhra Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to taunt his predecessor further.

He told mediapersons that these elections are a referendum on the two-year Congress rule in the state and if the Telugu Desam fails to secure 10 per cent of the vote Naidu should quit his party post and hand it over to his right hand man Devender Goud.

Piqued by Reddy's open challenge, TDP leaders retorted saying if the Congress can't get 90 per cent of the vote, will the chief minister resign? Unfortunately, both the ruling and opposition parties forget that in the see-saw political game they need to maintain a semblance of balance for the sake of democratic decency.

Power from garbage

IF THE plans move ahead, the garbage the twin cities produce will partly relieve electric power woes of citizens within a year. The government has given green signal to three private companies to generate power from solid waste.

Hyderabadis and Secunderabadis are estimated to throw away 2,200 metric tonnes of garbage every day, out of which the proposed plants are expected to consume 500 metric tonnes each to produce about 190 MW of power. The government will buy and distribute it. As the city expands more such plants are needed to solve the twin problems of garbage disposal and power shortage. In fact, the government should encourage such 'green energy projects' in other cities also where the open accumulation of solid and liquid wastes have become health hazards.

Law of justice

THIS is a case of law enforcer versus guardian of justice. A traffic cop gave a ticket to a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court for driving without wearing a seat belt. In normal circumstances, he should have been let off once the judge, N. Narasimha Reddy, identified himself. But it did not happen.

Justice Reddy was reported to have told the cop to treat him like any other citizen and the police had done exactly the same. After a bit of counselling and questioning and meeting a sub-inspector, the judge was finally issued the ticket. It all took 15 minutes.

The case took an interesting turn when it was alleged that the police had misbehaved with the judge to which the Director General of Police Swaranjit Sen replied the police had done their job — impartially. In the eyes of the law all are equal. A point well proved.