Gloom and despair have set in among the elite sections of people as Prakasam district is trifurcated with Kandukur Assembly segment clubbed with SPSR Nellore district and the eastern parts merged with Bapatla district carved out from Guntur district.
Disappointment was writ large among the protagonists of a new Markapur-headquartered district, comprising the western parts of Prakasam district, who had spearheaded a two-month-long agitation to press for clubbing together the Assembly segments of Kanigiri, Darsi, Yerragondapalem, Giddalur and Marakapur.
Upset with the Ramayapatnam sea port, which had been achieved after a long-drawn struggle, merged with Nellore district, which already had a thriving Krishnapatnam port, the Ongole Citizens’ Forum explored the possibility of moving the court.
The only solace for the people of Ongole was that the S.N. Padu Assembly segment, comprising Chimakurthy, known for its world-famous black galaxy granite, and Chadalawada, comprising a State-run farm to preserve for posterity the Ongole breed of cattle, had been retained in the truncated Prakasam district, noted forum president Kolla Madhu.
The reorganisation of districts would undergo further change as and when the number of Assembly constituencies went up as also when the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies was taken up by the Centre, Prakasam District Development Forum president Ch. Ranga Rao observed.
A.S. Dinesh Kumar, hitherto Joint Collector of Guntur district, will be the first Collector of truncated Prakasam district, while Prakasam Superintendent of Police Malika Garg will continue to be the SP of the district.
