Encroachments clearance at Alipiri-Zoo park road triggers row between TDP and YSRCP

Tirupati: The clearance of encroachments by the Tirupati Municipal Corporation, upon the directions of the district collector along the Alipiri-Zoo park road in Tirupati, has triggered off a political slugfest between the TDP and the YSRCP.According to the ruling party sources, a series of petitions were addressed to deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, who also holds the Environment and Forests portfolio, seeking his intervention to protect the Seshachalam buffer zone, where several unauthorised eateries had mushroomed in recent times.Following the directions from the deputy CM, Tirupati district collector Dr S Venkateshwar inspected the Alipiri-Zoo park road and directed the Tirupati civic body to immediately initiate measures to clear all encroachments that have mushroomed on the red zone abutting the Seshachalam biosphere.Acting on the directions of the district collector, the Tirupati municipal authorities embarked on a special drive and dismantled all encroachments along the Alipiri-Zoo park road.According to the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) chairman Ravi Naidu, while the intention behind the drive was to free the ecologically sensitive zone from encroachments, the YSRCP has launched a baseless propaganda on the issue by levelling false allegations. “We have taken a serious note of the YSRCP’s false propaganda and have formally lodged a police complaint at the Tirupati west police station”, Ravi Naidu told TOI.Meanwhile, followers of YSRCP youth leader Bhumana Abhinay Reddy have alleged that the encroachment clearance drive was only intended to protect the business interests of a few TDP local leaders, whose commercial establishments have been set up close to Alipiri.