Nagarjunasagar: Newly-formed Nandikonda municipality gears up for polls

Nagarjunasagar (Nalgonda): Nagarjunasagar known for its Buddhist influence and Najarjunasagar dam is one of the most popular tourism destinations of Telangana. The maintenance of the area was earlier under the Nagarjuna Sagar Project Dam authority but later it became a municipality after the announcement of formation of new municipalities in the State. Nandikonda municipality and municipality office was inaugurated by Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy.

As per the official information, Nagarjunasagar with hill colony and pylon colony was formed as Nandikonda municipality with 12 wards. Puli Jhansi Laxmi became Commissioner. Population of Nandikonda municipality is about 16,000 with 12,715 eligible voters of which 6,160 male and 6,555 females.

The government provided Rs 30 lakh worth vehicles for collection of litter and sanitation works. Employees from health department were taken on deputation to monitor the sanitation works in municipal limits.

Major problems in Nandikonda municipal limits include internal roads, drainage, and streetlights. Even though Nagarjunasagar received name and fame internationally as a popular Buddhist tourist destination, the facilities are still below local standards.

According to sources, even after the formation of Nandikonda as a municipality officially still the dam authorities were taking care of the maintenance of Nagarjunsagar. When it comes to the political situation in the area, the fight would be between the TRS and Congress only as the impact of TDP and left parties will be nominal. After Nagarjunasagar became municipality, leaders from the TRS and Congress were hopeful of winning. The chances of TRS winning are questionable due to lots of internal competition within cadre for chairman post. From TRS Karne Bramhananda Reddy, Bollepally Srinivas Raju, Palla Mohan Reddy, H Ramesh, Battula Satyanaryana, Battula Ramakrishna are eyeing the chairman post, whereas from Congress K Ram Krishna Reddy, Tummalapally Ranga Reddy, Bandaru Prasad are eyeing the chairman post of Nandikonda municipality.

Meanwhile, Nagarjuansagar MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah said that he was paying special attention to development in Nandikonda municipality to make it a role model municipality with all amenities in near future.