VIJAYAWADA: The State government is likely to create one more district by bifurcating the newly-formed Alluri Sitarama Raju district. If the government carves out one more district, Andhra Pradesh will have 27 districts.
The government had reorganised the districts from 13 to 26, and created Alluri and Parvathipuram Manyam districts covering the tribal areas of the State. Alluri was created with Paderu and Ramachodavaram division, which where earlier in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, respectively.
The district also has 22 mandals: 11 of Paderu, seven of Rampachodavaram and four of Polavaram submerged mandals that were merged with the State following the bifurcation in 2014.
With the new Alluri district having its headquarters in Paderu, those living in Rampachodavaram and Polavaram submerged mandals in the twin Godavari districts have to travel almost 350 kms to reach the district’s administrative centre.
Taking into consideration the difficulty of people in reaching the headquarters - which would defeat the very purpose of decentralisation for better governance - the government is said to be considering another district, comprising Polavaram submerged mandals and Ramachodavaram.
While Rampachovaram was in the erstwhile East Godavari and Polavaram in former West Godavari, locating the headquarters in either of these mandals - separated by the River Godavari - would be beneficial and convenient for people.
Hinting at the creation of one more district, I&PR Minister Perni Venkataramaiah on Tuesday said "it is historic that of the 13 new districts, two are exclusive for tribals. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is seriously considering carving out another district exclusively for tribals."
If the new district is carved out, the State would have three districts exclusively for the tribal population.