Ongole: Demand for new dist with Markapuram as headquarters
Members of Markapuram Zilla Sadhana Samithi submitting a memorandum to District Collector Pravin Kumar at his office in Ongole on Monday
Ongole: Members of various political parties representing Markapuram Zilla Sadhana Samithi on Monday explained to District Collector Pravin Kumar in Ongole, as to why the public from Markapuram, Yerragondapalem, Giddalur, Kanigiri and Darsi are demanding a new district with Markapuram as headquarters. They submitted a memorandum to the Collector in this regard.
They explained to the Collector that about 20 lakh people are residing in the five Assembly constituencies, and most of them are tribals and Dalits. They said Prakasam district headquarters Ongole is at a distance of 100 to 240 km away various places in the western area. They said that separate Markapuram district is the desire of the locals for more than five decades, as they feel that the rain shadow, backward area will be developed only when the headquarters is at a maximum distance of about 50 km.
They explained to the Collector that due to continuous drought, many people were migrated to other places. As the government is reorganising 13 districts into 26 districts, the leaders of various parties demanded Markapuram district and requested the administration to fulfil the dream of the locals, irrespective of their political interests. Reminding that YSRCP leaders and Minister Dr Audimulapu Suresh also supported Markapuram district and promised to form it earlier, they demanded the leaders and the Minister to keep their promise.
The leaders also listed the advantages of making Markapuram as district headquarters, like town has more than one lakh population, just about 40 km away to all 26 mandals in the revenue division, has good rail and road connectivity, Donakonda aerodrome for airport construction, Veligonda project for water, and a 100-bed district hospital. They said that they have 356 RTC buses helping 1.40 lakh passengers reach their destinations on a daily basis. They also listed that the five Assembly constituencies have 775 km of national highways, 421 km of State highways, 997 km of district-level roads, and 540 km of rural roads.