Telangana seeks return of border villages from AP

Vijayawada: Telangana agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday to discuss a set of sensitive inter-state issues, including the status of border villages transferred during bifurcation.

Top among them was the status of fivegram panchayats transferred to Andhra Pradesh under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. According to sources, Nageswara Rao sought cooperation for their merger back with Telangana.

The villages — Pichukalapadu, Kannaigudem, Yetapaka, Gundala and Purushothapatnam — were transferred from Khammam district to Andhra Pradesh in 2014 to facilitate the Polavaram project. They now fall largely within Alluri Sitharama Raju district, bordering the Bhadrachalam region. The transfer has remained contentious. Some residents have long demanded re-merger with Telangana. Purushothapatnam is particularly sensitive because it includes land linked to the Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple at Bhadrachalam, creating administrative and religious management complications. Other areas such as Kukunoor, Velerupadu and Kunavaram were also shifted during the bifurcation process.

Sources said Nateswara Rao also requested allotment of five acres of land in Tirumala for Telangana. He sought cooperation for construction of a TTD temple in Khammam and asked that 85 per cent of pending funds be released for repairs to the Peddavagu project in Khammam district.

Infrastructure figured prominently in the talks. The Telangana minister pushed for progress on the proposed Sattupalli–Kovvur and Penuballi–Amaravati railway lines. He also urged immediate repairs to the embankment built to protect Bhadrachalam from Godavari floods, particularly the stretch that now falls within Andhra Pradesh.

Nageswara Rao said coordinated action between the two governments would benefit people living along the border. Roads, irrigation works and railway connectivity, he argued, require joint effort and high-level consultations.