Vijayawada mayor orders Vigilance to probe river fete works

VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada mayor Koneru Sridhar has taken up the task of placing matters of corruption related to Krishna Pushkaralu works before the Vigilance wing.

Following pressure from his own party corporators, the mayor was forced to take this decision. During the recently-held council meeting too, the mayor was unable to exert pressure over the officials on corruption issue, as a firm owned by his associates is reportedly involved in corruption activities.

Both TD and YSR Congress corporators had demanded vigilance inquiry over the irregularities in the development works taken in the city for Krishna Pushkaralu during the council meeting held last Thursday. TD corporator Muppa Venkateswara Rao raised the issue.

Municipal commissioner G. Veerapandian then said there was no need for any inquiry. However, the pressure being mounted day by day prompted the mayor to approach Vigilance department to initiate an inquiry. Despite repeated attempts, the mayor was not available for comment.

The VMC spent crores on development works in the city for Krishna Pushkaralu. It paid Rs 18.90 crore towards payment of wages for 23,990 sanitation staff.
However, several sanitation staff complained about inadequate food supply to them. The corporator questioned as to how food bill of the staff amounted to Rs 3.5 crore for 12 days.