The late night announcement of proposals by the State government on Wednesday to form 17 new districts has thrown up quite a few surprises that did not go down well with the local population.
The sharpest criticism was reserved for Hanamkonda as a district, but a participant in the meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao before the release of the list said the town will retain its character as either the Municipal Corporation, Police Commissionerate or the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority limits will change. Three mandals each from Huzurabad and Station Ghanpur Assembly constituencies, two from Husnabad and Narmetta, Hasanparthy and Palakurthi mandals elsewhere in Warangal district will add to make the district.
A senior TRS leader admitted that the decision to make Hanamkonda and Peddapalli as districts was not appreciated by people. Nirmal in Adilabad as a district emerged as another major surprise, for which Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna had to take the blame.
The government came up with the roadmap to divide Hyderabad into four parts – Hyderabad comprising the old Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad limits, Vikarabad, Shamshabad and Malkajgiri. Vikarabad will have Vikabarabad, Chevella, Tandur and Parigi Assembly constituencies, Shamshabad will comprise Shadnagar in Mahabubnagar, Serilingampalli, Rajendranagar, Maheswaram, Ibrahimpatan and LB Nagar constituencies.
Malkajgiri district will be made up of Uppal, Malkajgiri, Medchal, Kukatpalli and Qutbullapur constituencies, sources said.
The division of districts was more or less on the expected lines at other places.
The announcement of Yadadri as a district went well with the people as the government plans to develop Laxminarasimha Swamy temple in the village in a big way. Similarly, the industrial belt at Kothagudem in Khammam and Peddapalli in Karimnagar have got their due. There was, however, strong criticism that Karimnagar will be deprived of its revenue share from industries in Ramagundam as they will be transferred to Peddapalli.
