AP State Gov refuses to halt work on Gangavaram Port project

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government has refused to heed to the demands of the political parties at the All Party Meeting here on Wednesday to stall the works of Gangavaram Port project till an adequate compensation package for fishermen of Gangavaram village was arrived at.

However, the Government has assured the All Party Meeting that it would consider reworking the compensation package to the fishermen who would now be denied access to the sea at the village owing to the Gangavaram Port project.

Addressing newspersons here on Wednesday, the State Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, said the Government has also assured the political parties that it would consider changing the location of the proposed fishing jetty so that the fishermen need not commute long distances for fishing.

Though the Government has agreed to reconsider the compensation package to the fishermen, it is currently not in a position to announce the same in view of the election code that came into effect for the ensuing by-election in Visakhapatnam, he said.