Fly Ash Issue: Legal Notice Issued to BRS MLA Koushik Reddy

 Karimnagar: Advocate Etooru Poornachander Rao issued defamation notices to Huzurabad MLA Padi Koushik Reddy, T-New channel MD Joginpally Santosh Kumar, Namasthe Telangana newspaper chief editor Tigulla Krishnamurthy and Telangana Publications Private Limited for making baseless allegation against transport and backward classes welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

Addressing a press conference at the Telangana Bhavan 10 days back, Koushik Reddy had alleged that minister Ponnam Prabhakar and his family members were involved in around Rs 100 crore illegal transportation of fly ash from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ramagundam, to other places.

Reacting to the allegations made by Koushik Reddy, advocate Poornachender Rao said that fly ash produced in the NTPC is transported only through calling of tenders. The material is used in making bricks and in road laying works. From NTPC, Ramagundam, the fly ash is transported to various regions and is monitored by the NTPC, the lawyer stated.

The lawyer said that the allegations are false and politically motivated as Koushik Reddy envies the popularity of transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar. Koushik Reddy forcibly stopped the trucks in Huzurabad and created disturbances. Besides, he made baseless allegations that the minister was collecting money from each lorry and tried to malign the image of the minister and his family members, the lawyer maintained.

Legal notices have also been issued against the management of the T-News channel and Namasthe Telangana newspapers, he added.

Meanwhile, officials at the NTPC, Ramagundam, issued a statement stating that to achieve an average 100 per cent ash utilisation, the corporation is following all the guidelines. Each stage, from ash collection to its final utilisation, it is meticulously monitored to ensure full compliance with the environmental standards, the official said.

Through stringent framework of all the procedures and checks including the transparent bidding processes for transporting agencies and meticulous documentation of ash quantities are delivered and utilised without giving any scope of deviation or irregularities.

The commitment not only guarantees the efficient management of ash resources but also underscores NTPC Ramagundam’s unwavering dedication to environment responsibility and regulatory integrity in all facets of its operations, it added.