HYDERABAD: Several infra companies, including Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), allegedly plundered the natural resources in Andhra Pradesh, according to a petition filed by the environmentalists with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The company recently launched a corporate social responsibility initiative of planting one crore saplings. The company was found to be illegally excavating gravel in Kothuru near Vijayawada during the construction of a National Highway bypass. The severity of the illegal mining was such that AP mines and geology department levied penalties of nearly Rs 100 crore against all the violators. The Comptroller and Auditor General has reported that MEIL received excess payments in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme in Telangana state. The company emerged as the second largest contributor to political parties in the country through the purchase of electoral bonds and several instances of quid pro quo were highlighted in social media wherein the timing of payments made by the company were linked to either award of contracts or raids by the statutory agencies including the income-tax department. The Andhra Pradesh government filed a report with the NGT in OA 165 of 2023, filed by Pilli Surendra Babu, with regard to the illegal mining of gravel, clay and boulders in Kothuru reserve forest areas near Vijayawada. According to the report, a district vigilance squad conducted a survey and inspection in Kothur village and identified 20 illegally excavated gravel pits in Sy No.s 35, 36, 40, 41, 45 and 227. “Accordingly, the surveyor has taken measurements of illegal pits and estimated that a quantity of 4.2 lakh cubic metres of gravel was illegally mined,” the report said. MEIL was allotted permits in some of these survey numbers, according to the report. The violators were levied penalty of Rs 24 crore.In another instance, inspection teams found that six lakh cubic metres of gravel was illegally excavated in Sy no.s 255, 256, 260 of Tadepalli village and 147, 148 of Vemavaram village and levied penalty of Rs 35 crore. In Sy No.s 501, 504, 508, 509, 511, 512, 520, 521, 524 and 525 of Velagaleru village, the officials found illegal excavation of 5.6 lakh cubic metres and levied penalty of Rs 31.31 crore.
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