Visakhapatnam: After the outcry from civil society following the illegal installation of three statues — that of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, director Dasari Narayana Rao and Nandamuri Harikrishna — at the Beach Road , the Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has now instructed its officials to find out the number of illegal statues at the beach road.The statues were installed on November 30. The entireprise was spearheaded by former Rajya Sabha member and Padma Bhushan recipient, Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad. The human resource development minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao attended the programme and unveiled the statues.But demolishing the statues have not been easy for any of the authorities concerned given that one of the statues is that of Harikrishna, who was a famous actor and Telugu Desam Party leader and the action could lead to unrest not just in the city but also across the state, sources in the GVMC said.GVMC commissioner M Hari Narayanan told TOI that they have served notices on the concerned persons. The issue was brought to the notice of the statues committee chairman for necessary action,” he said.And Prasad has replied through a lawyer. While avoiding a direct answer, his lawyers raised questions such as why has the GVMC not taken any action against other illegal statues installed across the city. Hence, the GVMC is preparing a report on all the illegal statues in the city. Once it will be ready, the commissioner will share it with the statues committee and the collector,” the sources revealed.It was no different at the press meet that Prasad held on Friday. At the meet, when media persons asked him about the statues, he evaded the questions.Sources in the civic body further said that they are making a list of all the illegal statues erected in the city since the release of the government order number 18 on February 18 in 2013. Besides, permissions for new statues will not be given citing the Supreme Court orders in SLP No 8519/2006.

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