Bhadrachalam: The people of five villages currently part of Andhra Pradesh are seeking merger of these areas in Telangana as they are faced with a lot of “inconveniences.”
The floods is one issue. This apart, there are also problems of healthcare, the “nonchalant attitude” of the AP officials towards the problems of these villages, the distance to the district headquarters and bonding with Bhadrachalam are also cited as reasons to press their demand.
The villages like Yatapaka, Pichukapaladu, Kannaigudem, Gundala and Purushothapatnam were located at a 5km radius and the people had a bond with Bhadrachalam and Lord Rama.
As per belief, Yatapaka was formed in the name of ‘Jatayuvu’, a bird that lost its wings during the fight with Ravana while the Asura king was taking away Goddess Sita.
The villagers say that being with AP, they missed all bonds including proximity to Bhadrachalam.
Some of the colonies in the five villages are still in Bhadrachalam town. These 13,000 people are enjoying all benefits like healthcare and safety from the Telangana government.
Dega Ramakrishna, leader of the ‘Five Village Veelina Porata Samithi’, said, “Our villages were situated at the end of Andhra Pradesh and the officials of AP are paying less attention to us during the situations like floods.
“On the other hand, the people were saved by Telangana officials when a colony was inundated in the recent Godavari floods. We are suffering a lot with regard to health care and medical facilities. Doctors in Bhadrachalam are not caring about us anymore.”
He said, “The district headquarters of ASR district is Paderu, over 250km from these villages. For healthcare, the locals have to go either to Rampachodavaram or Rajahmundry for better treatment.”
The sluice water from the bunds inundated the colonies in these villages, he said.
Nakka Venkanna said, “We are making this demand just for our convenience. The AP, Telangana and central governments should understand our problem and solve this issue”.
