This Week Andhra Pradesh

Defeat to Jagan turns minister media-shy

Minister for Health D L Ravindra Reddy is usually media-savvy but these days he has been entering and leaving his office as quietly as possible. Since he lost to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in the by-election for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat,he has been facing uncomfortable questions about a possible resignation. DL had been reluctant to contest in the first place. During the campaign,the opposite camp had played on his initials and dubbed him Deposit Loss Ravindra Reddy,and this proved prophetic. DLs cabinet colleague Y S Vivekananda,who lost to Jagan Mohans mother Y S Vijaya Lakshmi in the Pulivendula Assembly by-election,had resigned as Minister for Agriculture before the contest. Now,DL is under fire to do the same. He has been blaming everyone,including Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy,for his performance.

No successor yet for Sathya Sai Baba

The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust is struggling for unanimity on a successor for the spiritual leader. After declaring there were no differences among them and they would select a new chairman in days,they have indefinitely postponed the selection. The trust has five members: Sathya Sai Babas nephew R J Ratnakar,former chief justice P N Bhagwati,S V Giri,Indulal Shah and V Srinivasan,with former IAS officer K Chakravarthy as secretary. Ratnakar was expected to be appointed chairman but senior members apparently felt he was too young. He has been given the authority to sign cheques. For now,the trustees have decided to share the responsibilities and carry on without a chairman.

Tourism push to Buddhist heritage sites

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Andhra Pradesh has 140 sites of Buddhist importance including Amaravathi,one of the oldest Buddhist heritage sites in the country,and the government has finally set out to promote them. Officials say tourists from Japan,Sri Lanka and other Asian countries come to see the states Buddhist heritage sites but return disappointed because of lack of connectivity and proper promotion. Now,the Buddha statue at Hussainsagar in Hyderabad has got a new lighting system,inaugurated on Buddha Jayanthi; the tourism department has a

Rs-30-crore budget to develop seven major sites; the government also plans a Buddhist tourist circuit and a Rs-16-crore theme park,Buddhavanam,at Nagarjunakonda.

Hussainsagar lake,smelly and full of plastic

The Hussainsagar Lake is one of the few places left in Hyderabad that still attracts citizens with the promise of some fresh air in an otherwise crowded city. But the lake is no longer what it was. In spite of the efforts of authorities,the dumping of industrial waste continues,and the sludge that has accumulated on the Necklace Road side raises a stench. Tonnes of plastic waste have created a floating ring along the bank: water bottles and pouches,polythene bags,plastic plates,food packets. Apart from visitors,shops and eateries along the lake too dump their garbage into the lake,defying the ongoing vigil and a ban on plastic around the lake.