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Inspection to decide fate of housing project in Madhurawada

Santosh Patnaik

Top officials to go into objections of Archaeology Department

VISAKHAPATNAM: The fate of the much-touted mega-housing venture of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) will be known only after a joint inspection of the proposed site by senior officials.

Sources told The Hindu that a high-level team would inspect the site proposed by VUDA, following strong objections raised by the Department of Archaeology on the ground that the site was part of an ancient Buddhist complex, notified as a `protected site' for archaeological importance.

The project envisages construction of 2,000 flats in 10-storeyed super structures on the lines of Singapore housing ventures by Jurong (India) Constructions with an investment of Rs. 139 crores in Madhurawada area.

Sources said the Director of Archaeology, J. Kedareswari, the District Collector, Praveen Prakash, the VUDA Vice-Chairman, D. Varaprasad, and others would undertake an inspection of the site within the next few days.

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, after holding a public hearing last month, had cleared the project and stated categorically that the work would commence only after confirming that the site in question did not have traces of any archaeological finding.

Buddhist complex

The Government by a gazette notification issued on December 10, 1981, had declared that the Buddhist complex located in Survey No.336/A in Madhurawada needed protection under the Andhra Pradesh Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1960.

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