Environmentalist moves NGT to protect green cover on Daspalla Hills in Visakhapatnam

Bolisetty Satyanarayana petitions NGT to protect green cover near Visakhapatnam's Circuit House & stop illegal activities by GVMC & VMRDA.

Environmentalist from the city Bolisetty Satyanarayana on Wednesday filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to protect the green cover in and around the State government’s Circuit House on Daspalla Hills here. He also requested the tribunal to stall all the alleged illegal activities such as widening the existing 40 feet road in the area by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA). He alleged that both the civic bodies are taking up the road-widening works to help realtors in the city.

According to a copy of the petition, Mr. Satyanarayana, objected to the activities in the area as the works are likely to damage the land measuring 58 acres allocated for a park in the survey No. 1196 & 1197 on Daspalla Hills here.

“The Andhra Pradesh Government changed the Master Plan, and also the Green Zone as Multi Purpose Zone with an intention to allow commercial activities. I came to know about the decisions taken by the GVMC & VMRDA through the newspaper notices on December 4 and GVMC’s agenda on December 7, 2023. The previous governments have not allowed any activity in the park area, but the present authorities are proceeding to destroy the land allocated for park in Daspalla Hills and convert it into a high class residential zone,” Mr. Satyanarayana told The Hindu.