Prakasam district has been neglected by all political parties for decades. Hopes of development after state bifurcation too were dashed as the district was left with just pylons and plaques of projects that have never taken off. Not a single major industry that can provide employment on a large scale has come up in the district. When the state was bifurcated, many believed that the YSRCP would set up capital at Donakonda in the district if it came to power. But that did not happen with TDP coming to office.<\/p>\n
After 2019 elections, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy made it clear that Ongole and Bapatla districts will come up on the basis of Lok Sabha constituencies. This triggered fears that let alone witnessing development, the district may further lag behind due to the new districts concepts.<\/p>\n
Poor district<\/strong><\/p>\n If Ongole district is declared on the basis of Lok Sabha constituency, it would surely gain the dubious distinction of being the poorest district in the state. There are hardly any sources of revenue in the Ongole LS constituency. Granite mines, which are the cash cows for the district, are all concentrated in Chimakurthy and Ballikuruva mandals. They are only 20 km from the Ongole town but 80-90 km from Bapatla. However, to the dismay of Ongole people, the Assembly constituencies they are part of, namely Santhanuthalapadu and Addanki, are part of Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency. Hence, logically the entire granite industry will go to Bapatla district.<\/p>\n Cashew nut industry in Chirala, aqua industries, major pilgrim centre of Singarayakonda, water projects like Gundlakamma and Ramatheertham will also not be part of the proposed Ongole district. Moreover, the port which was allotted to Prakasam district as part of state bifurcation process will go to Nellore since Ramayapatnam is in Kandukuru Assembly segment of Nellore LS constituency. In this nightmarish scenario, Ongole will be left without a major industry that yields revenue, provides jobs or even a water project to irrigate lands.<\/p>\n Migration<\/strong><\/p>\n Ongole, Santhanuthalapadu, Kondepi, Darsi, Markapuram, Giddalur and Yarragondapalem are currently part of Ongole LS seat. If the districts are reorganized as per Parliamentary constituency, Santhanuthalapadu will go to Bapatla. There are no industries in any of the remaining six Assembly constituencies. Though there is Veligonda project, no one knows when it will be completed. Around 4 lakh people migrate to other states in search of work every year. There are fears that the situation will worsen if Ongole is made a district without any important sources of revenue.<\/p>\n Silence of opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n There are no protests from opposition on the injustice meted out to Ongole. The YSRCP government carried out a series of searches and conducted raids and imposed fines to the tune of Rs 2,400 crore on granite companies owned by opposition TDP in the last 8 months. Some of these leaders have defected to the ruling party while others are still struggling to come out of the financial chokehold of the government. Though there are some leaders in BJP, they too are keeping mum. As usual, Left parties are limiting themselves to roundtable meets and discussions. Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy attempted to convince Jagan that Santhanuthalapadu should be made part of Ongole which is only 20 km from it rather than Bapatla, located 80 km away. He has gone quiet after Jagan made it clear that districts will be carved out on the basis of MP constituencies.<\/p>\n Although it is the officials who will play a crucial role in the formation of districts, one can\u2019t be sure that they will take the injustice to Ongole to Jagan\u2019s notice. Will they suggest to the government that Santhanuthalapadu and Kandukur constituencies could be merged in Ongole MP Constituency during delimitation in 2025 without making any changes for now? We have to wait until March 2021 to see what is in store for Ongole.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prakasam district has been neglected by all political parties for decades. Hopes of development after state bifurcation too were dashed as the district was left with just pylons and plaques of projects that have never taken off. Not a single major industry that can provide employment on a large scale has come up in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[334,373,393],"tags":[216,126,427,382,618,40],"yoast_head":"\n