KARIMNAGAR: Karimnagar District Collector Sarfaraz Ahmed on Wednesday admitted that the State government had sought 5.14 acres of land to build a helipad at caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s private residence, popularly known as North Telangana Bhavan. Ahmed revealed that the government had proposed to the district administration in January 2018 that the land be acquired for the helipad. The approval notice was dated October 2, 2018, he noted.
It is learnt that a Loksatta Udyama Samstha (LUS), a local NGO, had complained with the Governor and Election Commission on learning about the issue. The collector noted that the process of land issue might not have problems with the model code of conduct. However, the administration was ready to do as the EC directs it. Ahmed also said that since the proposed helipad would be built on a private land, and was the cause of much controversy, the administration would re-check and move ahead. It has been alleged by Opposition parties that the helipad was being built with government funds.
Meanwhile, LUS district president N Srinivas requested the Governor to cancel the notice of the land acquisition in order to prevent the misuse of public money worth Rs 20 crore being used to construct the helipad. “The government has already constructed a temporary helipad on the lands of 40 landowners. These are all plots that would have been used for residential plots,” said Srinivas.