The district of Visakhapatnam was formed on April 1, 1936. It was then considered to be the biggest district in the country, under the Madras Presidency, and it continued to be the biggest even after Independence, till about 1950. Then the total area of the district was over 20,000 sq km and comprised areas that are now under Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.
In 1950, the district of Srikakulam was carved out of it and in 1979 some more areas were separated to create Vizianagaram. Still, Visakhapatnam district remained a huge one with about 11,161 sq km comprising Anakapalle and the the Agency areas of Araku and Paderu.
Now, with the proposed formation of two more districts from the existing Visakhapatnam such as Anakapalle and Alluri Sitharamaraju district, the area of Visakhapatnam will shrink to about 700 sq km, confining mostly to GVMC limits.
Many urban planners say that breaking down of larger districts into smaller ones facilitates better administration and governance. A section of people opine that Anakapalle could have been retained in Visakhapatnam while supporting the idea of creating a separate tribal district by carving out the Agency area as administering the Agency has always been a challenge.
Administered by Agents
Though the district was large, the challenging part was administering the hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats. Even the British had a problem administering it and that is why they had appointed Agents to administer the vast hill ranges that spanned from Rampachodavaram in East Godavari district to Malkangiri of Odisha, says Prof. P.D. Satyapal, senior professor from the Department of Anthropology, Andhra University. Since Agents were appointed to administer the tribal blocks in the hill ranges, it came to be known as Agency Area and the name continued even post Independence.
Like the Santhal province of Central India, the Agency Area of Visakhapatnam district was deeply forested and rich in minerals. The history of the region is replete with multiple tribal rebellions and skirmishes, including the one led by Alluri Sitharamaraju, on whose name the new district with Paderu as headquarters has been proposed. The Agency area continues to be a conflict zone even now, between the security forces and the banned CPI (Maoist).
Conflict zone
Almost from early 19th century to early 20th century, the Agency areas had witnessed a number of rebellions, including the prolonged fight between the British and Tammanna Dora. Alluri had only come later, says Prof. Satyapal.
All the 11 tribal mandals under Visakhapatnam district are proposed to be part of the new Alluri Sitharamaraju District along with another 11 mandals from Rampachodavaram and Yetapaka of East Godavari.
Many believe that forming a new tribal district will do good for the development of the region, as it will now get the full focus of a district.
But the district will be the most backward one as even today there are many areas where there is no mobile connectivity or road access. Backwardness and the threat from the Maoists are among the many challenges for this new district.
