Khanapur’s hopes for revenue division status unfulfilled

Khanapur: Promises to elevate Khanapur, a tribal constituency, to a revenue division have once again fallen short, leaving residents disappointed. Since 2018, multiple proposals to grant revenue division status to Khanapur have remained unfulfilled, lingering in official paperwork with little progress.

Former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had assured the people in two election campaigns that Khanapur would be upgraded. More recently, during the Assembly election, current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and local MLA Vedma Bojju also pledged to address the issue.

However, despite expectations that Khanapur would be included in the latest cabinet announcements, the constituency was notably absent from the list of new revenue divisions. Instead, other districts received new divisions.

Khanapur is not only a centre for its own residents but also for those from nearby mandals, including Kadem, Pembi, and Dasturabad, as well as various tribal panchayats. Currently, residents from remote villages like Alampelli in Kadem Mandal and Munyal in Gangapur Dasturabad Mandal travel 70 to 80 km to reach the Nirmal Revenue Division centre, placing a significant burden on the community.

Meanwhile, criticism is increasing that local public representatives have neglected Khanapur’s needs, as seen in the recent establishment of a new mandal in Eturu Nagaram in Mulugu district.