Hyderabad: There is a race among TRS leaders to secure a dry port in their constituencies. The Centre had asked the Telangana state government to submit proposals on a suitable location to set up a dry port in July last year, since the state does not have a port.
Nizamabad MP K. Kavita apart, leaders from Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Medak too are insisting that the dry port be set up in their constituencies.
The government therefore has failed to submit proposals to the Centre though five locations have been shortlisted.
One of the proposed locations is Suryapet in Nalgonda district which is located along the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway from where goods can be easily transported from sea ports located in Machilipatnam, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada.
The second and third locations identified were Amanagal in Mahbubnagar district and Kandukur in Ranga Reddy district due to their proximity to the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway and the international airport.
The fourth location, Armoor in Nizamabad district, is located along the Hyderabad-Nagpur highway. The fifth proposed location is Zaheerabad in Medak district, due to its access to ports and airports located in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
“The state government is assessing the pros and cons of the five locations that were shortlisted. There is tough competition between them and the Chief Minister has
to take a final decision,” said an official of infrastructure department.
Ms Kavita has approached Union minister of state for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman in June this year and urged her to set up a dry port in Armoor on the ground that it has good rail and road connectivity.
Ministers Jupally Krishna Rao (Mahbubnagar), G. Jagadish Reddy (Nalgonda) and P. Mahender Reddy (Ranga Reddy ) are pitching for ports in their districts to boost economic activity there.
