VISAKHAPATNAM: Minister for Tourism Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao has said the proposed State guest house on a 30-acre site atop Greyhounds Hill at Kapuluppada will not pose any threat to the ancient Thotlakonda Buddhist site.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, he said Kapuluppada and Thotlakonda sites are located in different survey numbers with 1 km distance between the two places and there is no truth in the claim by some people that the proposed guest house land is a heritage site.
The State government, which is committed to protection of heritage sites, will develop Thotlakonda and Bavikonda. The government proposed to construct guest houses in Tirupati, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Visakhapatnam to check wastage of public money and issued GO No. 1087 in this regard, he said.
The minister alleged that Narsapuram MP K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju raised the issue of Thotlakonda Buddhist site though he does not know where it is. Instead, the MP should fight for the long-pending Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line, he said.
Rao dared Raju to seek re-election on capital Amaravati and other issues raised by him, if he has the guts. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu wasted most of his five-year tenure on capital Amaravati without focusing on all-round development of the State, the minister alleged.