Social media storm over ports

Hyderabad: Did the Telangana government ask for a share of the 1,000-km coastal corridor and Krishnapatnam, Machilipatnam and Gangavaram ports in Andhra Pradesh? This has been the speculation going on in social media and various news channels. But officials said that there was no such proposal from the Telangana Government. It was probably a speculation to create confusion from some opposition parties.

These parties are unable to digest the positive move to resolve the long-pending issues between the two states, said Congress and BJP leaders both here and Andhra Pradesh. No such system exists anywhere and it is not possible even legally. They said even the issue of some rights in TTD was also part of deliberate misinformation, sources said.

The meeting between the two Chief Ministers was to hammer out solutions to resolve the pending issues of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act under Schedule IX and X.

Sources in the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board (APMB) said, "There is a specific act regulating the development agenda and policies related to the exploiting the maritime and port resources of Andhra Pradesh." The state passed the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board Act in 2018. Similar acts were passed in every coastline state in the country to enable rapid development of the ports sector.

The board constituted under the act deals with the overall development of hinterland and offshore areas connected to the port use and industrialisation in port areas. The proposal from Telangana, a landlocked state, might be that it wanted a designated port(s) of entry for the exports and imports of the State. Such facilitation from AP would help Telangana to have a hassle-free export and import port linkage of its own.

Since Telangana will have a dry port, having connectivity with ports in Andhra Pradesh will be done automatically and it is not a big issue at all, officials told Hans India.