Agitation for Narayanpeta district turns violent; vehicles torched

​Mahbubnagar: The 48-hour bandh called by the Zilla Sadhana Samithi demanding the carving of Narayanpeta as a new district, took a violent turn on Wednesday with agitators blocking roads and torching vehicles in support of their demand. The agitators also stopped buses and the traffic came to a standstill in the town.

“Narayanpeta has always been at a loss during bifurcations. During the 1956 merger of the area with Andhra Pradesh, we lost irrigation facilities built by erstwhile Nizam to Karnataka State. Educationally, industrially and employment wise Narayanpeta is backward and it has become the epicenter of migration in Mahbubnagar.

Till date, there is no government degree college in the town, the handicrafts and handloom is totally shattered. Unless and until the region is carved into a district, Narayanpeta will never see development. If not now, it will not happen in future and we will be left backward forever,” said Manohar Goud, convener, Narayanpeta Zilla Sadhana Samithi.

With the two-day bandh coming to an end, the agitators turned violent and torched vehicles on the roads and forced the markets to shut. Adding to this, a few individuals also resorted to climbing the cell phone tower threatening to commit suicide if government did not heed to their demand. One person named Janardhan, doused himself with kerosene and tried to immolate himself for the cause of Narayanpeta as a district.

The members of Zilla Sadhana Samithi sat on the roads and in front of the bus depots and blocked buses and road traffic. Narayanpeta MLA S Rajender Reddy resigned from his MLA post to pressurise the government.

“Narayanpeta is historically and culturally unique, it is one of the oldest municipalities in Mahbubnagar district. We have a well developed market and people from different regions like Gulburga in Karnataka apart from surrounding areas are settled here.

At present Narayanpeta is more than 70 kilometres from Mahbubnagar headquarters. Therefore, it becomes difficult to access the district headquarters. For improving education, industry and irrigation facilities we demand the government to carve Narayanpeta into a new district, which will help improve our education, employment and overall economic status,” Manohar said.

At present, the Narayanpeta revenue division has more than 15 mandals under its jurisdiction and has a total population of more than nine lakh. If the government bifurcates Mahbubnagar, it should accommodate Narayanpeta first. Makthal, Narayanpeta and Kodangal will be the three MLA constituencies.

“We have adequate land of 150 acres for construction of district headquarters and more than 30 government offices are present in Narayanpeta. We do not have the problem of merger of new mandals or villages. With one revenue division, Narayanpeta can be carved out into a district without any problems as has been seen with other areas,” suggested Manohar.

The Zilla Sadhana Samithi is also planning to go for National Highway ‘dighbandanam’ at Marikal on Thursday. “We want to further intensify our agitation. We are planning to block the National Highway 167 at Marikal from 12 noon to 5 pm tomorrow. MLA along with all the supporters of the district will take part in the 'dighbandan' programme tomorrow,” informed Manohar.