Following paddy crisis, Rahul Gandhi likely to visit Telangana in April

Hyderabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Warangal next month for a grand public meeting, organized in unity with the farmers of Telangana.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chairperson, Revanth Reddy said that the party will agitate against the fuel and power tariff hikes till April end. He said that they are planning to conduct protests aggressively by garlanding gas cylinders.

On the topic of GO (Government Order) 111 which has created a lot of stir in the recent past by environmentalists across the state, Revanth Reddy said that the party is planning to bring up a committee led by former minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy, who is considered to be an expert on environment-related issues and protest on the issue.

What is GO 111?

In 1996, GO 111 was issued in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in order to prevent unnecessary industrialization and murky construction in 84 villages and pollution of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, which were created as drinking water facilities for people in the Greater Hyderabad area.

GO 111 is pertinent to 1.32 lakh acres of land across said villages including Mandals that are in proximity to Hyderabad. These villages come under the 10 km catchment area of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar. During the election campaigning for the 2018 Assembly Elections, KCR had vowed to repeal the GO within months of TRS coming to power.