*Coalition fails to give water, but hands over prime lands for 99 paise in Vizag*

Visakhapatnam, Sep 13: YSRCP spokesperson Konda Rajeev Gandhi lashed out at the coalition government for pushing Visakhapatnam into a severe drinking-water crisis while handing over prime government land worth hundreds and thousands of crores to corporates for a nominal 99 paise.
Speaking at the YSRCP office in Visakhapatnam, he said nearly 20 lakh people were struggling for drinking water, with women forced to protest on roads for tanker supply. He questioned Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s claim of being a “Water Man” when households, farmers, industries and the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant were all facing acute water shortages.
He said the government was projecting old Purushottapatnam pumping arrangements as a major achievement instead of ensuring gravity-based supply through the Polavaram Left Canal. “Publicity is at its peak, but ground reality is at its weakest,” he said.
Rajeev Gandhi said the government had created a water mafia in the city, where people were unable to secure tanker water even after paying. He said local ruling-party leaders were more interested in valuable lands, beach shacks and corporate interests than in addressing the people’s basic needs.
He also criticised “Operation Lungs” for targeting poor street vendors while major industrial pollution remained unchecked. He said the destruction of 166 acres of hill land at Mudasarlova for data centres was damaging the city’s ecological balance and water resources.
He demanded immediate war-footing measures to resolve the water crisis and warned that YSRCP would launch a mass agitation with the people if the government failed to act.