Anantapur: Rayalaseema Steering Committee (RSC) on Sunday announced that it will organise a Chalo Delhi programme in July to fulfil the long-pending demands of the neglected region. In the interim, the committee will launch a special drive to collect 3.55 lakh signatures from across Rayalaseema, demanding fulfilment of the region’s needs.
RSC leader Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy said without a separate state of Rayalaseema, it appears there will be no development in the region. He underlined that Rayalaseema has remained neglected in all sectors during both pre and post-Independence period.
He underlined that had the long pending Krishna-Pennar river connectivity been carried out in 1951, Rayalaseema would have been a fertile region. He pointed out that later, Kurnool became the capital of Andhra Pradesh. But it stopped being the capital once the united Andhra Pradesh came into being in 1956.
Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy said even now, a barrage across Krishna River at Siddeswaram can provide 60 TMC feet of water to meet the needs of Rayalaseema. But the proposal has been neglected by the state government, which has proposed a normal bridge at Siddeswaram.
The Rayalaseema leader observed that the government has never tried to protect rights of the region by maintaining the level of water in Srisailam Dam at 854 feet. Further, Annamayya, Alaganur and Pothireddypadu head regulator gates have not been rectified for many years, he pointed out.
