In Nandikotkur, 16-yr-old promise remains unfulfilled

Nandikotkur (Nandyal) : In spite of the fact that the then CM late YS Rajasekhara Reddy had sanctioned Rs 1.2 crore for the construction of a bridge near Kothapalli, connecting two Telugu states, after a major accident occurred 16 years ago, no steps were taken in this regard.

To this day, people are crossing the river by risking their lives. With hardly a week or more days left for the famous Singotam Jatara, which will be held in January every year in Kolhapur in Telangana State, lakhs of people of Nandikotkur and other mandals will travel by boats and ferries to go to the jatara. Since there is no other option, people will cross the river by boats and ferries.

In 2007, a boat carrying more than 100 people was capsised in Krishna river. Around 62 people lost their lives. At that time the then CM of United Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu visited the accident site. Greatly saddened by the water grave, YS Rajasekhara Reddy sanctioned Rs 1.2 crore for the construction of a bridge near Kothapalli, connecting the two States.

The residents of Nandikotkur and other mandals urging the government to construct a bridge and save their lives.

Nandikotkur constituency in Nandyal district has six mandals - Pagidyala, Kothapalli, Pamulapadu, Jupadu Bunglow, Midthur and Nandikotkur. There are 2.5 lakh voters, with female voters slightly more than male. 70 to 80 per cent people in this constituency are farmers.

The constituency was under General category from 1972 to 2009 and from 2009, it was changed as reserved (SC) constituency.

Muchumarri lift irrigation is the main resource for water supply, which has six pumps. Of this, two pumps will cater to drinking and irrigation water needs of Nandikotkur constituency and other four pumps will supply water to Anantapur and other districts.

Nandikotkur has good bonding with the people of Kollapur, Nagar Kurnool and Wanaparthy in Telangana. They will cross River Krishna with the help of boats and ferries, which is the shortest distance of 20 to 25 km. Otherwise, they have to travel 200 km on road.

If one has to speak about the development of Nandikotkur alone, people criticise that no development was seen in YSR Congress Party government. Battered and potholes roads, besides narrow roads, could be seen in the entire Nandikotkur.

Though Nandikotkur is the main connectivity to Srisailam and Vijayawada, which is called as KG (Kurnool-Guntur) road and hundreds of vehicles ply on this road on every day, there was neither new roads nor repairs taken up. Moreover, Nandikotkur is the centre that connects Nandyal, Kurnool, Guntur and Pagidyala and main business centre also.

People say that at least some road were laid during TDP government. But after the YSRCP came to power, forget about laying of road even for a stretch of one km, the government didn’t take up even patch works, they added. Several motorists and others were injured and some even lost their lives in the accidents due to the roads filled with potholes.

Though Togur Arthur is Nandikotkur MLA, it can be said that the entire constituency is under the control of constituency in-charge Byreddy Siddharth Reddy. Sources say that party ticket will be given to the candidate in 2024 general elections, as suggested by Siddharth Reddy. But another news going viral is that Arthur is going to get the ticket, as he has close nexus with CM Jagan's family members.

Apart from Arthur, ex-MLA Labbi Venkata Swamy, Chandra Mouli (son of former MLA Isaiah), Venkata Ramana and Anand Kumar are also popping up in the election race.

Meanwhile, Bandi Jayaraj (who lost 2019 election), Jaya Surya, Kantha Rao, Venkata Swamy and Dr Manoraj would be contesting from Telugu Desam Party. But information was that ticket would be given to the candidate, suggested by Mandra Sivananda Reddy.

When asked locals, they opined that Nandikotkur is in ruins. Since the beginning, when it was under general category, factionalism prevailed, mostly between the families of Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy and Gowru Venkata Reddy. This left the constituency to its fate, without any development. Even after the constituency was made SC reserved, no development took place in any field.

The nightmare of Singotam Jatara during 2007 is still hunting the people of two Telugu speaking states. The tragedy occurred on January 19, 2007 due to capsizing of a boat in Krishna River which claimed 61 lives. People were returning to their native place in Andhra Pradesh after enjoying the Singotam Jatara at Kolhapur constituency in Telangana State.