Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu has sought the intervention of Governor Biswa Busan Harichandan to stop “destruction of ecology” around Dravidian University at Kuppam in Chittoor district due to “illegal mining.”
In a letter addressed to the Governor, Mr. Naidu alleged that the university, established in 1997 to integrate and promote the Dravidian culture covering the southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, had become a den of “illegal and nefarious activities” since the last three years.
Under the YSRCP government, universities in general and Dravidian University in particular, are degrading by the day.
Mr. Naidu alleged that Dravidian University had turned into a hub for illegal mining of granite on its land spread over 1,100 acres.
‘Houses developed cracks’
“The mining mafia is resorting to blasting with dynamites on the land, causing fear among the people living in the neighboring as their houses have developed cracks. The illegal activity has led to death of various birds, peacock in particular,” Mr. Naidu alleged.
“The illegal mining has also resulted in the destruction of pristine environment and greenery on the university campus,” he alleged.
Students’ plight
Referring to the incident in which 28 girl students residing in the hostel on the university premises had taken ill due to alleged food poisoning in February this year, the TDP president said that no action had been taken against those responsible till date.
“The university does not have an ambulance facility. The vehicles of other universities have been dumped on expiry of fitness certificate. The government has made no attempt to procure new vehicles,” Mr. Naidu said.
The staff members of Dravidian University were yet to receive their dues for the last two years, he alleged, and added that the students were being harassed by not issuing hall-tickets to write the examinations on the pretext that they had not remitted the fee for attendance shortage.
Urging the Governor to intervene and restore the academic ambiance of the university, Mr. Naidu, to substantiate his charges, had enclosed the pictures of the purported illegal mining activity, carcasses of peacocks, and the students being rushed to the hospital for alleged food poisoning.
