Following are the Terms of Reference of the five-member Sri Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee constituted by the Government of India to examine the situation in Andhra Pradesh:
The Committee was appointed in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation for and against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The Committee has been asked:
** To examine the situation in the State of Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate State of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh.
** To review the developments in the State since its formation and their impact on the progress and development of the different regions of the State.
** To examine the impact of the recent developments in the State on the different sections of the people such as women, children, students, minorities, other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
** To identify the key issues that must be addressed while considering the matters mentioned in items (1), (2) and (3) above.
** To consult all sections of the people, especially the political parties, on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views; to seek from the political parties and other organisations a range of solutions that would resolve the present difficult situation and promote the welfare of all sections of the people; to identify the optimal solutions for this purpose; and to recommend a plan of action and a road map.
** To consult other organisations of civil society such as industry, trade, trade unions, farmers’ organisations, women’s organisations and students’ organisations on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views with specific reference to the all round development of the different regions of the State.
** To make any other suggestion or recommendation that the Committee may deem appropriate.
The Committee has been asked to submit its report by December 31, 2010.
The terms of reference (TOR) set for the five-member Srikrishna Committee evoked mixed reactions with the Telangana protagonists strongly denouncing them as a “betrayal” of the people of the region.
The separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao termed the TOR as “baseless, meaningless and mindless” while Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas welcomed them.
“It is a total betrayal of the people of Telangana. The TOR are totally immoral,” Chandrasekhar Rao lashed out.
Srinivas hoped the Committee would do justice to the state and urged all political parties to co-operate with it. Reacting to the TRS’ demand for resignation of legislators, the PCC chief said resignations would not solve any problem.
Telugu Desam Party leaders hailing from Telangana region have also said the TOR were a betrayal of the people of the region and suggested that the Centre was bent on pushing the separate statehood demand into the cold storage.
TDP politburo member Nagam Janardhana Reddy asserted that Telangana state could be achieved only by creating a constitutional crisis in the state.
The Praja Rajyam Party welcomed the TOR and appealed to all political parties to observe restraint till the Committee completed the consultation process.
“It’s a right step by the Centre in accordance with its commitment given at the all-party meeting on January 5,” PRP Political Affairs Committee member K Kalavenkata Rao said.
CPI state secretary K Narayana and BJP state president Bandaru Dattatreya have also said the TOR were “deceiving.”
“The statehood process will get delayed because of the Committee. Since it’s a political problem, the Centre should find a political solution,” Narayana said in Vijayawada.
“The TOR clearly indicate that the Committee was formed only to bury the Telangana statehood demand. The UPA government should step down as it failed to stick to its December 9 statement on the statehood issue,” BJP leader and former Union Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao said.
The Telangana Political Joint Action Committee too strongly denounced the terms of reference set for Srikrishna Committee. JAC convenor Kodandaram said the TOR have left them “totally disappointed.”
While the two TRS MPs, including K Chandrasekhar Rao, 10 MLAs and one MLC decided to resign from their posts in protest against the TOR, the TDP legislators from Telangana said they would act in accordance with the decision of the JAC.
“All the parties are in the JAC and none has withdrawn. We are all meeting to decide on the future course of action,” Kodandaram said after an interaction with TDP MLAs. He later held talks with some Congress MLAs from the region as well.
Chandrasekhar Rao and his fellow MP Vijayasanthi are expected to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in New Delhi on February 16 and press for acceptance of their resignations which they had submitted earlier.
On the other hand, political leaders hailing from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions too have not welcomed the Srikrishna Committee TOR in toto.
“The TOR clearly indicated that the Centre was bent on dividing Andhra Pradesh. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s conspiracy in this regard is clearly visible in the TOR,” TDP MP M V Mysura Reddy said.
TDP politburo member K Yerrannaidu has felt the Centre should have also included the demands for other smaller states in the country in the Sri Krishna Committee’s TOR. “Andhra Pradesh should not become a laboratory for experiments related to creation of smaller states,” the former Union Minister said.
State Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, who was on an official tour of Tirupati, welcomed the Committee TOR and hoped they would be in favour of a separate Telangana state.
The Lok Satta Party too welcomed the TOR and appealed to political parties to take an appropriate stand in the interests of the people. Since the Committee was only recommendatory in nature, there was no need for any apprehensions, Lok Satta Party spokesman K Srinivasa Rao felt.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Bell-430 crash: A pure accident, say experts
Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Stormy weather was the only reason that resulted in the crash of the Bell-430 helicopter of the Andhra Pradesh government in which the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed in the dense Nallamala forest ranges on September 2, 2009, a two-member expert committee appointed by the state government to probe into the incident has established.
“There is evidence to show that the helicopter got into bad weather and it was coming down with great force because of the down draft (wind going down in great speed vertically). The pilots tried to lift the helicopter but in the process, unfortunately, it hit the tree,” the committee members H S Khola and M R Reddy said in a 110-page report submitted to Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
On the weather analysis, the experts said, the helicopter in the final stages was in a “severe down draft” where the rate of descent was very high. The pilot could not lift off and the chopper impacted with the ground because of this.
“Except that there is no evidence of anything,” Khola, a former Director General of Civil Aviation, and Reddy, a former director of Special Protection Group, said after submitting the report.
“From the evidence which is on record, there is no evidence except to say that the helicopter got into this weather that resulted in the crash,” they asserted when asked about the possible sabotage.
“When we look into the causes of the accident, naturally we have to look into sabotage as well. But the Central Bureau of Investigation is inquiring into it in great detail into all aspects of sabotage. Very soon I think they will also come out with a report,” Reddy, a retired IPS officer and expert in VIP security, said.
Replying to a question, Khola said an analysis of the twin engines of the Bell-430 chopper revealed that they were running at full RPM. “As such there was no failure of the engines,” he pointed out.
To another question, Reddy said transcripts obtained from the Air Traffic Controls at Chennai, Shamshabad and Begumpet, as well as the contents of the Cockpit Voice Recorder decoded in Canada, indicated that there was no talk between the Chief Minister or any other passenger with the helicopter crew. “There was no other talk, no other thing recorded. We looked into what is on record and we also know that the record is not tampered,” he observed.
Noting that the helicopter pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia was “very experienced,” Reddy said the former had followed all the correct procedures.
“He himself went to the Met office at Begumpet and took the detailed ‘Met Briefing’ prior to the flight. The weather report contained in detail the visibility, beam, temperature and wind speeds at different heights. It not only had current data but also the forecast for the next couple of hours (on that day),” Reddy pointed out.
“In fact, they had waited for an hour for the weather to clear. If the weather wasn’t clear, the ATC would not have allowed the chopper to take off. But en route if he (pilot) had encountered weather which was more severe than what the Met office said, that was the time he should have decided whether he should come back or go forward. We can’t say it’s an error of judgment on part of the pilot,” Reddy noted.
Capt Gurmeet Singh, a former instructor-pilot with the Indian Army and known for his expertise in weather, also assisted the expert committee as a “co-opted member.”
Hyderabad: Stormy weather was the only reason that resulted in the crash of the Bell-430 helicopter of the Andhra Pradesh government in which the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed in the dense Nallamala forest ranges on September 2, 2009, a two-member expert committee appointed by the state government to probe into the incident has established.
“There is evidence to show that the helicopter got into bad weather and it was coming down with great force because of the down draft (wind going down in great speed vertically). The pilots tried to lift the helicopter but in the process, unfortunately, it hit the tree,” the committee members H S Khola and M R Reddy said in a 110-page report submitted to Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
On the weather analysis, the experts said, the helicopter in the final stages was in a “severe down draft” where the rate of descent was very high. The pilot could not lift off and the chopper impacted with the ground because of this.
“Except that there is no evidence of anything,” Khola, a former Director General of Civil Aviation, and Reddy, a former director of Special Protection Group, said after submitting the report.
“From the evidence which is on record, there is no evidence except to say that the helicopter got into this weather that resulted in the crash,” they asserted when asked about the possible sabotage.
“When we look into the causes of the accident, naturally we have to look into sabotage as well. But the Central Bureau of Investigation is inquiring into it in great detail into all aspects of sabotage. Very soon I think they will also come out with a report,” Reddy, a retired IPS officer and expert in VIP security, said.
Replying to a question, Khola said an analysis of the twin engines of the Bell-430 chopper revealed that they were running at full RPM. “As such there was no failure of the engines,” he pointed out.
To another question, Reddy said transcripts obtained from the Air Traffic Controls at Chennai, Shamshabad and Begumpet, as well as the contents of the Cockpit Voice Recorder decoded in Canada, indicated that there was no talk between the Chief Minister or any other passenger with the helicopter crew. “There was no other talk, no other thing recorded. We looked into what is on record and we also know that the record is not tampered,” he observed.
Noting that the helicopter pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia was “very experienced,” Reddy said the former had followed all the correct procedures.
“He himself went to the Met office at Begumpet and took the detailed ‘Met Briefing’ prior to the flight. The weather report contained in detail the visibility, beam, temperature and wind speeds at different heights. It not only had current data but also the forecast for the next couple of hours (on that day),” Reddy pointed out.
“In fact, they had waited for an hour for the weather to clear. If the weather wasn’t clear, the ATC would not have allowed the chopper to take off. But en route if he (pilot) had encountered weather which was more severe than what the Met office said, that was the time he should have decided whether he should come back or go forward. We can’t say it’s an error of judgment on part of the pilot,” Reddy noted.
Capt Gurmeet Singh, a former instructor-pilot with the Indian Army and known for his expertise in weather, also assisted the expert committee as a “co-opted member.”
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