The office of the Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MPD) has ceased to exist in Bhadrachalam town with the shifting of the entire staff of the MPDO’s office to various mandals recently.
A special officer has been appointed to oversee the implementation of the developmental activities and other tasks, hitherto executed by the MPDO office, sources said.
The move drew flak from the CPI (M) and various mass organisations which have long been decrying the absence of an elected body for Bhadrachalam major Gram Panchayat (GP) and the issues of "underdevelopment" that have remained unaddressed for a long time.
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The CPI (M) and its frontal organisations had staged protests against lack of a dumping yard to systematically dispose of garbage among other problems plaguing the denizens of the famous pilgrimage centre over the last few years.
Neglect, alleges CPI(M)
Bhadrachalam has remained grossly neglected in the aftermath of the merger of Bhadrachalam mandal (barring the revenue village of Bhadrachalam) along with six other mandals of the old undivided Khammam district with the residual Andhra Pradesh as per the State Reorganisation Act in 2014, rued CPI (M) Bhadrachalam town secretary G Swamy.
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The temple town, which is the headquarters of the ST-reserved Bhadrachalam Lok Sabha constituency, suffered a raw deal during the reorganisation of the districts as the persons in power in the State failed to concede the long pending demand for making Bhadrachalam the district headquarters town, he alleged.
"The much touted assurance of the persons at the helm to spend ₹100 crore on the development of Bhadrachalam town is yet to be implemented," he charged.
Uncertain status
The local body elections could not be held for Bhadrachalam due to the uncertainty over its status caused by the government’s proposal to upgrade it into a municipality, Mr Swamy said.
The shifting of the MPDO’s office from Bhadrachalam is likely to impact the development activities particularly the implementation of the MGNREGS works, he contended.
Adivasis demand
The government has the bounden responsibility to clear the uncertainty over the exact status of the Bhadrachalam and ensure the comprehensive development of the town as well as strict implementation of the laws governing the Fifth Scheduled areas in Bhadrachalam Agency, the tribal heartland of Telangana, he said.
Bhadrachalam should be continued as the major GP and attempts to upgrade it into municipality should be dropped to safeguard the constitutional provisions enshrined under the Land Transfer Regulation (LTR) Act and the interests of Adivasis, insisted Joga, a local Adivasi activist.