Ordinance gives more mandals to Andhra Pradesh

Khammam: President Pranab Mukherjee giving his consent to the Ordinance merging seven mandals of Khammam district with the successor state of Andhra Pradesh created a flutter in the district, especially the Bhadrachalam Agency, on Wednesday evening.

Though the President had earlier returned the Ordinance as it had been cleared by the outgoing Manmohan Singh Cabinet, he cleared it after the Narendra Modi Cabinet, which had met for the first time on Tuesday, approved it.

Though Union minister Ravishankar Prasad maintained that the Cabinet had not discussed the Ordinance, the news spread like a wildfire in the Agency where all political parties and several Adivasi forums were already in the thick of agitations, protesting the transfer of villages, besides planning to stage bandhs, rallies and black flag hoisting till the Appointed Day of June 2.

As per the original plan, the Polavaram project would totally affect four mandals: Kunavaram, V.R. Puram, Velairpadu and Kukunoor; and partially affect three mandals: Bhadrachalam, Chintoor and Burgampadu.

Now, with the ordinance coming into force ahead of June 2, all seven mandals, irrespective of their extent of submersion, will be transferred to Andhra to avoid land constraints in the relief and rehabilitation process for the displaced.

However, temple town Bhadrachalam and six villages under Burgampadu mandal located along the Paloncha-Bhadrachalam road have been exempted from the merger to ensure connectivity within Telangana territory that include the temple town, Dummugudem, Cherla, Wajedu and Venkatapuram mandals.

The villages that are likely to be continued in Telangana are Burgampadu mandal headquarters, Sarapaka, Nagineniprolu, Vakirepeta,  Pinapaka, Morampalli Banjara and Sompally.
It is learnt that there is a need for continuing with a couple of more villages, Krishnasagar and Tekulacheruvu in Burgampadu mandal, in Telangana so that the connectivity to Manuguru remains unhampered.