Retain Bhadrachalam in T State: Kodanda

Warangal: The UPA Government should take note of the hunger strikes and demonstrations at Bhadrachalam, of Khammam district, and elsewhere and drop the move to merge Bhadrachalam division in Seemandhra, said TJAC chairman Prof M Kodandaram here on Friday.

He said although for a while the Bhadrachalam division was included in Seemandhra by its rulers, it could not be taken as standard. The aspirations of the people have to be considered. The public were unanimous in opposing the division’s merger in Seemandhra.

Kodandaram spoke to press persons on the sidelines of a training programme for farmers on cow-based natural farming by noted agricultural activist Subhash Palekar.

He warned that if the Centre failed to take note of the aspirations and demands of the people of the region on the status of Hyderabad and Bhadrachalam, serious agitations would be launched by the TJAC and its affiliated organisations.

“We are hoping that Telangana, with its existing ten districts and Hyderabad as the capital, will be created. Any change in this would be seriously be opposed” he asserted.

He ruled out the demand of making Hyderabad a joint capital and faulted the efforts of Union Minister JD Seelam meeting his Cabinet colleague S Jaipal Reddy to convince him on the issue.

“None would agree to the demand”, he said while appealing to the people to be alert till Telangana was formed. Earlier, Kodandaram addressing farmers at the training programme lamented that because of the ‘negligent’ attitude of the Seemandhra rulers ryots in Telangana were forced to depend on groundwater, despite the Godavari and the Krishna, flowing through the region.