Forum demands formation of Nallamada district

Forum for Better Bapatla secretary Saibaba says creation of a new district will help the modernisation of Nallamada drain

The demand for a new district comprising coastal mandals in Guntur and Prakasam districts is being floated by the Forum for Better Bapatla.

A long-pending demand to carve out a new district, Nallamada district, is being pitched by the Forum. Former Governor Kona Prabhakara Rao had earlier raised the demand and the forum has renewed the demand to give a new identity and spur development in the coastal mandals.

Nallamada is a drain which starts off as a minor canal at Edrwardpet in Narasaraopet gathering steam as it meanders its way through Chilakaluripet, where it is known as Ogeru Vagu, Pedanandipadu, Appikatla before emptying in the sea.

A major drain with a length of 115 k.m, the drain wrecks havoc during excess floods inundating fields and causing heavy losses to farmers.

Secretary of the forum P.C Saibaba said that creation of a new district would help complete the modernisation of drain quickly and also unlock the tremendous potential of the coastal mandals.

Coastline

With a coastline spreading from Repalle to Odarevu in Prakasam district, the coastal mandals could see rapid development and could become hub to marine processing and export zones, aquaculture and tourism sectors, he said.

Bapatla Lok Sabha segment is consisting of seven Assembly constituencies including four in Prakasam district (Parchur, Addanki, Chirala and Santhanuthalapadu (SC) segments). The three Assembly constituencies in Guntur district are, Bapatla, Repalle and Vemuru (SC).The history of the Guntur District has shown that administrative changes have been taking place at regular intervals.

The new Guntur district was formed in 1904 consisting of Tenali, Guntur, Sattenapalli, Palnadu, Bapatla, Narsaraopet, Vinukonda and Ongole taluks with four revenue divisions- Guntur, Tenali, Narsaraopet and Ongole. Subsequently, Ongole was merged in Prakasam District.

In 1909, Repalle taluk was formed after bifurcation of Tenali taluk and in 1933, 11 villages of Repalle taluk were transferred to Bapatla, which lost nine villages to Guntur in 1940.