RECAP 2008 - II

By M H Ahssan

From saving trees to protecting scribes’ right to freedom of expression to a massive gathering to hail a superstar’s entry into politics, warring business families and a burning train claiming many lives. Andhra Pradesh woke up to a rather eventful May to August stretch of 2008

CITIZENS DO A CHIPKO
Agreen drive, murder of an AP girl in the U.S, by-elections and the encounter-death of gangster Aziz kept readers hooked on to the newspaper all of May. However, what grabbed maximum eyeballs was the attack on Telugu daily Andhra Jyothi’s Jubilee Hills office, in the last week of the month.

Angered at a report in the paper that allegedly castigated leaders of caste-based organisations, around 50 activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) barged into the newspaper office and pelted stones on the glass doors, smashed windshields of cars and set the reception desk on fire. There was more action with newspapers and management effigies being burnt by MRPS activists outside other Andhra Jyothi centres as well.

This attack on the press was preceded by a massive attack on trees earlier in the month beginning May 6 when a 200-yearold banyan tree was hacked down outside the historic Paigah Palace. Along with it, the US Consulate also brought down 32 Ashoka trees. Like this was not enough, just three days later the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was all set to fell 18 more trees.

After a sustained campaign by TOI, on March 12, GHMC passed orders cancelling the cutting of any more trees in the city. However, the ban did not even last 48 hours with fresh cutting of 70 trees undertaken at Rajendranagar, citing road-widening as the reason. It finally took a chipko movement of citizen activists to stop this mindless act and save the 400 other trees that were to face the axe soon.

Lucky trees but unlucky Jyothirmayi. The 23-year-old student from AP was found murdered in her apartment in Birmingham, UK, with the reason for the killing being a mystery initially. However, it was later established that her roommate Nagaraju Kumar Nalluri, who was upset with Jyothi for spurning him, was the face behind the heinous act.

Another face behind several acts of crime, Venkat Reddy alias Aziz Reddy was shot dead in an alleged encounter this month. He was reported to be a close aide of Mumbai don Chhota Rajan and was a dreaded extortionist.

What sent shock waves across the state was the death of wannabe cops during their physical endurance tests. The physical endurance test for recruiting constables was being conducted in peak summer. The drive claimed a third life this month.

But all this was forgotten with the month nearing its end as cameras turned to catch the by-poll action. Elections ended on a peaceful note for all four Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats on May 29 though it left voters still wondering if the T wave would prove effective.

SPLIT WIDE OPEN
Events in this month left many shaken and stirred. If city scribes were stirred into action opposing the attack on Andhra Jyothi offices, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao was shaken by the party’s debacle in the bypoll and even quit from his post, only to resume it a day later. Also shaken was the Rs 1800 crore-Sanghi group, with the warring Sanghi brothers locking horns over various issues and even seeking a settlement to split the group. Another ‘split’ this month was that of senior TDP leader T Devender Goud parting ways with the party over the separate Telangana issue.

But it was the Maoist rocket attack on a 64-strong Greyhounds police team in June end that left the state police gasping. The boat carrying the team, that was returning after a combing operation near Malkangiri in south Orissa, capsized after the Maoists started firing indiscriminately killing 39 cops.

Before the attack, however, the mood in June was ‘spirited’ intermittently. Liquor shop licence bids touched a whopping Rs 2 crore for a shop in Kothaguda. Another shop near Cyber Towers fetched almost the same amount. Dampening spirits was the monsoon playing truant. While torrential rains were lashing the rest of the country, AP suffered a longish dry spell with agriculture officials and even mana CM pinning his hopes on a wet July.

In the midst of such concerns was the Metro rail story unfolding, each time with a controversy. The one to hit papers this month was that of Bharat Scouts and Guides refusing to hand over its property on SP Road to the metro project for setting up a station, parking and circulation area.

A stand-off that worsened this month was the one between Telugu daily Andhra Jyoti and Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi with the police arresting the daily’s editor and two journalists. This led to journalists from across the state assailing the state government for attacking freedom of press.

POWER GAMES
The state and the city reeled under a severe power shortage in July with rains eluding AP and four units of the Vijaywada Thermal Power Station tripping in mid-July. The Central Power Distribution Company of AP Limited even issued an advisory asking people to stop switching on lights and fans and discouraged them from using air conditioners and geysers. This even as areas inhabited by babus received uninterrupted power supply while citizens sweated it out, forcibly undertaking austere measures.

Another development that had citizens seeing red was the call for financial bids for the metro rail project. The Navbharat-led consortium bagged the project, curiously offering to pay the government Rs 30,311 crore as against charging it for execution of the 71 km three-corridor project. The consortium included Maytas, Ital Thai of Thailand and IL&FS.

A shocking development this month was a government move exempting all schools from having playgrounds. As per GO No. 88, schools were suggested to send their children to play in the nearest municipal ground or park under the supervision of their teacher. The decision, it was found, was rooted in the skyrocketing real estate prices and using open space for a non-commercial activity such as a playground seemed like a poor usage idea to the government.

Citizens were not only complaining about the dearth of parks and power in the city but also another shortage— that of diesel. July 17 saw serpentine queues outside petrol bunks, with some bunks even resorting to rationing of the fuel. Disappointed denizens, however, had some reasons to smile as well. A mountaineer rescued three bank employees from a building in Himayatnagar that had caught fire.

THE RISING OF A STAR
This month gave state politics its greatest launch more than 25 years after N T Rama Rao wowed the masses with his star appeal. Superstar Chiranjeevi after a year of “will he, wont he’’ speculation marked his entry into state politics. Chiru announced his political party Praja Rajyam at a packed Tirupati meeting on August 26. Both the Congress and TDP had then broken into cold sweat with the star vying for the CM’s post.

Such political dramas aside, the state had to deal with serious tragedies. August began with the Gautami Express catching fire, killing 31 passengers. Though unofficial estimates indicated a higher figure. Five coaches of the Secunderabad-Kakinada Gautami Express were engulfed in flames. It wasn’t just fire but even water the city was battling with. Rains played havoc in many areas of Hyderabad with incessant downpour claiming 29 lives. Traffic and life in Hyderabad were thrown out of gear. Crops in the state were damaged.

Many buildings collapsed claiming more lives. If the natural disasters were any less, a communal clash in Vijaywada also kept a part of city tensed. An angry mob in Vijaywada pelted stones and injured cops after a girl from the minority community married a boy from the backward class. Another jolt came in the form of city tennis sensation Sania Mirza making an exit from the top 50 women tennis players’ ranking.