Gannavaram people demand merger with NTR district

Vijayawada: People of Gannavaram who are demanding the government to merge the Gannavaram Assembly constituency with the proposed NTR Vijayawada district will submit representations to the district collector through the mandal tahsildars in support of their demand. Leaders of various political parties formed JAC and have been protesting against the decision of the government to merge the constituency with the existing Krishna district. Krishna district headquarters Machilipatnam is 86 km away from Gannavaram while Vijayawada is less than 20 km, the point out.

The state government formed a committee with senior officials of the state government to review the objections and demands of the people on reorganisation of districts. District collectors were asked to receive the objections and suggestions on creation of new districts. The collectors will submit the report to the government with their remarks. A high level committee will verify the demands and objections and take a decision on reorganisation of districts.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has made it clear that scientific study must be made on reorganisation of districts and objections of the people should be reviewed.

Gannavaram assembly constituency is located very near to Vijayawada and people of Vijayawada have good contacts with Gannavaram mandal and vice versa. Vijayawada airport is also located in Gannavaram mandal.

Alla Gopala Krishna Rao, JAC leader opposing the merger of Gannavaram mandal with existing Krishna district, said some districts will have eight constituencies after the reorganisation. He said the state government has announced that the reorganisation of districts is done for the better administration and convenience of the people. Administration will be easy if the Gannavaram is merged with Vijayawada district because it located near the city. He said some new proposed districts have eight Assembly constituencies and Vijayawada district too can have eight. Proposed Vijayawada district has seven Assembly segments and Machilipatnam district has the same number of Assembly segments.

Representatives of various political parties, employees, traders, students and others are ready to submit over 1,000 representations to the district collector and other revenue officials in Gannavaram asking the government to merge the Gannavaram segment with proposed NTR Vijayawada district. People of Gannavaram under the banner of JAC are already staging protests opposing the decision to continue the constituency in Krishna district.