Address pollution problem in Gajuwaka and Malkapuram areas: CPI(M)

Around seven lakh people residing in ward nos. 64 to 88 under Gajuwaka are forced to breathe air mixed with coal dust, says the party leader

Communist Party of India (Marxist) district committee secretary M. Jaggunaidu has appealed to District Collector A. Mallikarjuna to save the residents of Gajuwaka and Malkapuram areas from pollution which iscausing health problems in them.

In a memorandum submitted to the District Collector on Friday, Mr. Jaggunaidu said that around seven lakh people residing in ward nos. 64 to 88 under Gajuwaka were forced to breathe air mixed with coal dust. The fine dust was not only settling on the roads and houses in the area but also entering the homes of the people. He alleged that Adani Gangavaram Port was responsible for pollution in these areas.

The residents were being forced to spend thousands of rupees on treatment, Mr. Jaggunaidu said.

The houses, built by spending lakhs of rupees, were being damaged due to the pollution. The clothes, dried on terraces and front yards after washing, were catching black dust.

He alleged that the coal dust and chemical pollution from Gangavaram Port could also be seen in ward numbers 58 to 63, which were on the other side of Yarada Hill, in Malkapuram area. He said that the CPI(M) had already submitted representations to the government, district administration and the Gangavaram Port officials and had also organised protests in the past. But, the port management was only taking temporary measures but failing to take steps for control of pollution on a permanent basis.

Mr. Jaggunaidu alleged that the 3,000 acres of land allocated for the Gangavaram Port belongs to the people.

Fishermen had lost their livelihood due to the setting up of the port and full justice was not done to them. The workers were being exploited as labour laws were not being implemented in the port. The heavy vehicles of the port plying via Jaggu Junction were posing a risk to employees of pharma companies and other industries, located in the area, who use motor vehicles to shuttle to work.He appealed to the Collector to order the port management to take immediate remedial measures to control pollution, on a permanent basis, and to save the lives of the workers and residents of the pollutionaffected areas.