High Court orders removal of three statues on Beach Road in Vizag

A few months back, three new statues of notable personalities were erected on the Beach Road in Vizag. Unveiled by HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, these statues, of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Dasari Narayana Rao, and Nandamuri Harikrishna, gave rise to a controversy as it was cited that they were installed without permission.

The installation of the statues was cited as a violation of the Supreme Court’s orders. In 2013, SC released an order banning fresh encroachment of roads, pavements and sideways by the construction of religious structures or installation of statues of public figures. The Supreme Court had also ordered all state governments and union territories to deny permission for erecting statues.

In a recent development, a Division of the High Court, on Tuesday passed orders for the removal of these statues set up on the Beach Road in Vizag.

As per Telangana Today, social activist Bolisetti Satyanarayana filed a case in the High Court against the installation of the three new statues in the city, following which, a Division Bench with Justice Praveen Kumar and Justice Satyanarayana directed the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) officials to remove the statues immediately.

Earlier, former Rajya Sabha member and Padma Bhushan recipient, Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, was issued a notice by GVMC for not seeking prior permission from the officials for setting up the statues on the Beach Road. However, Mr Prasad had defended the move citing instances when statues of luminaries were set up without permission in the past too.