VIJAYAWADA: On the eve of completing 100 days of his Yuva Galam Padayatra, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh vowed to focus on eco-tourism in the State if the party returns to power in the next elections.
Interacting with activists of the Save Tiger Campaign, when his padayatra entered the Velugodu forest area on Sunday, he said the TDP government had initiated several measures to conserve forests and they will take up the forest conservation mission seriously once it returns to power in the State.
Imran Siddique, assistant director of the Indian Wildlife Conservation Society, met him and discussed the steps to be taken for the protection of tigers in the forest region. Thanking Lokesh for becoming a partner in the Save Tiger campaign, he brought to his notice the steps initiated by other States to develop the tiger eco-tourism circuit.
When Kotharamapuram villagers brought to his notice their local issues, Lokesh promised to resolve them soon after the TDP is back to power. At Velugodu, Lokesh interacted with construction workers and patiently heard their problems.
Accusing the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government of looting the State, Lokesh said the sand mafia was ruling the roost. “During the TDP regime, several development works were taken up following which the construction workers got ample work. Now, there is no work for them,” he said and promised to change the situation once the TDP is back in power in the State.
He also visited the Telugu Ganga and recalled that it was the dream project of TDP founder and former chief minister NT Rama Rao, which was envisaged to benefit the drought-prone Rayalaseema region in a big way.
“This is the classic example of the foresight of NTR and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and their commitment to developing the drought-prone Rayalaseema region,” he asserted.