The State government's decision to carve out a new Sri Balaji district by taking away industrially-advancement Assembly segments of Gudur and Sullurpeta Assembly segments from the present SPSR Nellore district has evoked mixed response from the stakeholders in SPSR Nellore district.
Following delimitation of districts, the truncated SPSR Nellore district will be without the prestigious spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre as also the main tourist attraction Pulicat lake, the second largest brackish water lake in the country visited by migratory birds from far away lands.
It will also stand to lose also the Special Economic Zone and mega industrial park at Menakuru. The truncated SPSR Nellore district will be left with only under-developed revenue divisions of Kavali, Atmakur and Nellore will lose its prominence after the reorganisation of districts, feels opposition parties.
However, YSR Congress Party legislator from Sarvepalli Kakani Govardhan Reddy hailed the State government’s decisiodn and said the ruling YSRCP was only fulfilling its poll promise by reorganising the districts roughly with Lok Sabha constituency as jurisdiction to usher in speedier development through decentralisation of administration.
In deference to the wishes of the people in the mandals of Muthukur, Thotapalli Gudur, Venkatachalam, Manubolu and Podalakur whose lives were intertwined with Nellore city, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had retained the Sarvepalli Assembly segment with SPSR Nellore district, said the senior YSRCP leader while leading a week-long celebrations at Podalakur on Saturday.
TDP leader P. Sunil demanded retaining the Gudur Assembly segment also with SPSR Nellore district. Much of the industrial units in and around Krishnapatnam had come up in the Gudur division and their development will be hampered if it is taken away from residuary Nellore district.
Reservation of 75% jobs in industrial units would deny jobs to those in now truncated Nellore district, said former TDP MLA P. Sunil.
The new Nellore district will comprise mostly drought-prone areas like Udayagiri and Kavali. None wanted Kandukur, close to Ongole, to be merged with Nellore district, says Telugu Desam Party leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.
There is also a demand for bifurcating the district into two, one with backward Udayagiri as headquarters and another with Nellore as headquarters and comprising five Assembly segments each.
No region from SPSR Nellore district should be conceded to Sri Balaji district, feels Communist Party of India district secretary Ch. Prabakar. Similarly, Kandukur in neighbouring Prakasam district now part of Nellore Lok Sabha constituency need not be clubbed with residuary SPSR Nellore district, added CPI (Marxist) District Secretary M. Ramesh.
