Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan on Monday said that Alluri Seetharamaraju district with Paderu as its headquarters was created by ignoring the voices of the Polavaram irrigation project evacuees, political parties, local communities, and civil society.
“The decision is posing challenges for the tribes living in the erstwhile East Godavari Agency. No stakeholder was consulted by the Andhra Pradesh government prior to the release of the draft pertaining to carving out Alluri Seetharamaraju district,“ a release quoted Mr. Pawan Kalyan as saying in Monday.
The JSP president pointed out the inconvenience the tribal people from erstwhile East Godavari Agency, a majority of them are Polavaram project evacuees, have been facing while going to the district headquarters.
“Prior to the reorganisation of districts, the evacuees were forced to travel 300 km to reach Kakinada, the headquarters of East Godavari district. The challenges remain the same even after the creation of Alluri Seetharamaraju district. Now, the evacuees need to travel eight hours or spare two days for a visit to the new district headquarters at Paderu,” said Mr. Pawan Kalyan.
Repeated appeals for making Rampachodavaram as the headquarters of the new district fell on deaf ears, he alleged and asked how the decision of making Paderu as the district headquarters would help the tribes of Chintoor and Rampachodavaram.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan also said that the JSP would fight for the cause and ensure that justice was done in this issue .
CM’s assurance
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy during a meeting with the district Collectors on Monday, asked Alluri Seetharamaraju Collector Sumit Kumar to stay in Rampachodavaram two days a week.