Many questions have been raised regarding the need to create Alluri Sitaramaraju district.
Many questions have been raised regarding the need to create Alluri Sitaramaraju district.
On the midnight of April 24, the Konta area committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) private bus set on fireAfter asking 40 passengers on the bus to get down near Sarivela in Chintoor Agency area on the national highway. Newly created Alluri Sitaramaraju district of Andhra Pradesh, Since this incident happened despite the Maoist movement being at its lowest in this part of the region, questions have been raised on the need to create this district.
The number of districts has increased from 13 to 26 due to the recent bifurcation and reorganization of districts by the state government. Alluri Sitaramaraju, which has a high tribal population and low population density, was created by separating the regions. district of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari. It is now the second largest district of Andhra Pradesh after Prakasam.
Many problems remain the same in this district. According to conservative estimates, 80% of Alluri Sitaramaraju is forested. Area. The steep hills of the Eastern Ghats are difficult to navigate. About 50% of the district is still connected by roads and communication lines. Every year viral fever, dengue, chikungunya, typhoid and malaria affect the population. Deaths from these diseases are high because there are inadequate medical facilities in the region. Primary health centers and community health centers are far and wide. There are several media reports about pregnant women and babies dying on the way to nearby health centres, being carried on makeshift ‘doli’ as ambulances do not have access to hundreds of villages in the district. Availability of good quality drinking water has been an issue in the agency areas. Many villages depend on polluted perennial rivers. To make matters worse, 11 mandals of Paderu, the district’s administrative headquarters, have gained notoriety in recent times for being centers of hemp cultivation.
Since the late 1980s, Maoists have had considerable influence in the region. Today, though the movement is far from powerful, there are fears that it may be revived as the district shares borders with Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha, all of which are said to be part of the ‘Red Corridor’. District Superintendent of Police J. Satish Kumar, who has four additional superintendents in the Vishal district with 30 police stations and five armed police posts.
Alluri Sitaramaraju is rich in minerals. It has deposits of bauxite and laterite and abundant deposits of semi-precious stones. But a tiny hint of mining can shake up a hornet’s nest. The Niyamgiri case in Odisha shows that overnight, a place under the tutelage of Maoists can easily turn into a war zone.
While many issues are already plaguing the region, creating such a large district is detrimental to the basic idea of bringing the administration closer to the people. The distance from Rampachodavaram to Paderu is about 240 km, it is 210 km from Chintoor to Paderu and from Yatapaka to Paderu is 274 km. The journey from these areas to the district headquarters takes six to 10 hours. There are 22 mandals in the district in which 11 are from Visakhapatnam and seven from Rampachodavaram and four from Yatapaka in East Godavari. Several serving and former bureaucrats have joined the people of Rampachodavaram and Yatapaka to suggest that a separate district be created from their area with Bhadrachalam as the district headquarters. This will not only reduce travel time and address logistics issues, but will also ensure that the tribals receive special care.
sumit.b@thehindu.co.in