Immense potential of Seemandhra

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh is now inevitable after its endorsement by the UPA, the Congress Party and the BJP at national level. While the legal and administrative process is being worked out by the Centre, Seemandhra youth should understand the immense potential in their region and not to be misled by their Hyderabad-based leaders who are selling a single-point agenda of Hyderabad-centric development.

Seemandhra region, with 13 districts and an area of 1,65,450 sq kms with a population of about 5 crores (2011 Census) will be larger than many other States like Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. It also would have second longest coastline of 972 km among all the States of India, next to Gujarat with 1600 kms coastline. The entire hinterland of the proposed State would be maximum 200 kms away from the sea coast, except two districts of Kurnool and Ananthapur. Such a proximity to long coastline is the most natural advantage to the proposed State which is not enjoyed by any other coastal state. When Compared to Gujarat, Coastal Andhra has at present around six ports.

There is huge potential to set up more ports in Coastal Andhra as well as power plants. Port-based region offers immense potential for growth with huge employment opportunities. The Seemandhra youth should understand that history is giving them the greatest opportunity of exploring the natural potential of long coastline coupled with delta area of two major rivers of the country i.e. Krishna and the Godavari. They should not miss this golden opportunity of coastal line growth potential for the sake of a land-locked joint capital of Hyderabad with administrative jurisdiction of 200 sq. kms. The adjacent Rangareddy district with 7,500 sq kms would be part of Telangana State and will not be shared with Seemandhra State.

Because of predominant focus on Hyderabad since the beginning, no importance has been given to the growth of towns which led to lower urbanization levels when compared to other states. Higher urbanization levels lead to higher growth in Services Sector and in state’s economy. To achieve the urbanization levels of 50% in a decade, the proposed Seemandra state should aim at the following:

• More urban agglomerations around Vizag, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Machilipatnam, Guntur, Ongole, Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa, Ananthapur and Kurnool.
• 19 more districts which would lead to rapid urbanization.
• The Seemandhra youth, instead of frittering away their energies and time on the claim to landlocked Hyderabad city, should force their leaders to demand support from the Centre to develop their region. Among the priority areas are:
• Two major ports at Machilipatnam and Prakasam in public sector; four intermediate ports in the private sector and three port-based power plants by NTPC on imported coal.
• A Central University; an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Rayalaseema; Indian Institute of Management(IIM); two All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, one in Coastal Andhra and one in Rayalaseema; and Rs 2000 crore package to upgrade the State universities created in each district recently.
• Six-lane Coastal Highway project from Srikakulam to Nellore.
• New International Airports at Vizag and Tirupati and three domestic airports at Vijayawada, Ongole and Kurnool by the Airport Authority of India.
• Rs 1000 crore tourism package to develop Konaseema on the lines of Kerala.

While Hyderabad City with Hyderabad District would be common capital for the proposed two states, I feel that Seemandhra people can bargain with the Centre for more financial assistance for the above projects in their region so that they can provide better employment opportunities to their youth and better governance to their people.

(The writer is a former Member of Parliament and the views expressed by him are his own)

B Vinod Kumar