The current debate on the proposal to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital reminds us of the conspiracy hatched by leaders and people of some regions in the Madras Presidency towards the Telugu- speaking people of Visakhapatnam and Ganjam districts in 1930. When Odiya-speaking people approached the British for a separate state and sent their representative to a Round Table Conference demanding parts of Visakhapatnam and Ganjam for Odisha, no one from Andhra Mahasabha objected to it except one or two leaders from Rayalaseema. In fact, they could not convene the Mahasabha for some time due to this lapse.
As a result, we lost five to six districts to Odisha which were part of Visakhapatnam and Ganjam. Gidugu Rammurthy, the doyen of spoken Telugu, protested it. Now, leaders of some coastal districts, who were accused by many in the underdeveloped regions, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra, even in the combined state of hijacking development for their self and social development are again speaking in the same voice even after we lost Telangana. It pains to listen to our own Teluguspeaking people say that Visakhapatnam is at the dead-end near Odisha. People of Ichapuram, and Parvathipuram had travelled 1300 km when Kurnool was the capital for 3 years and 900 km for 60 years to go to Hyderabad, while Krishna, Guntur and other coastal districts had the privilege of remaining within 400 km of the capital city. They are well-protected in the middle of the state without any border or water disputes and drawing the water resources of Uttarandhra including Godavari waters.
Leaders of Uttarandhra including late Gouthu Latchanna tolerated this, considering that they are also our Telugu biddas. Perhaps, our friends do not know late Gouthu Latchanna came from Baruva around 300 km from Visakhapatnam. The sacrifices made by Uttarandhra in terms of political leadership, and resources for the development of Hyderabad and the state are known to very few. Unfortunately, Krishna and Guntur districts do not have sufficient natural resources except fertile soil and depend upon upstream waters of Krishna and Godavari from other states. Even now, this is the position, not to speak of industrial development etc.
After the state formation in 1956, most of the contractors and businessmen came from the coastal region to Visakhapatnam and the city provided the spring board for their growth. It started from 1971 and continues unabated even now in exploiting surplus lands of the region. Many do not know that we had a Zamindari system while they had Ryotwari. After abolition of Zamindari system in 1948, the lands remained with the government. Successive governments and the ruling classes made use of the situation and grabbed lands and transferred resources to Hyderabad. Some of them lost due to Telangana formation. We pity them as they did not invest in Vizag. The locals of Uttarandhra being socially and economically poor and backward did not get any benefit from development projects. No worthwhile project from the state government was initiated in Uttarandhra and all that industrial base in the city is due to public sector development by Government of India due to its location.
Even this public sector did not benefit the locals and many had to migrate. Around 15 lakh people migrated to different places including Hyderabad as labourers. Visakhapatnam has a rich history. It was named after Visakha Varman in 500AD as we know through his Korashanda inscription (Inscriptions of Odisha) published around 1918 by Godavarthi Ramdas. The 3rd century BC Buddhist and medieval Vaishnava temples etc of the city stand as a testimony to its past. In the modern era, the first war of independence started in Visakhapatnam when three sepoys of the East India Company were killed in 1780 in Vizagpatam by the local agents of Hyder Ali (Sher Mohammed Khan, Krishna Gajapathi?).
We, on behalf of the Uttarandhra Adhyayana Vedika, submitted a memorandum on the location of the New Capital for AP to the Sivaramakrishnan Committee in July 2014 indicating the potential benefits of locating it in Visakhapatnam. We noted that the city has 17.3 lakh population while Guntur and Vijayawada had only 16.5 lakh in 2011. Visakhapatnam at that time was placed at number 10 in terms of GDP at $ 26 billion and provided data on the available infrastructure and other facilities. It was our hope that the city would bring development to the hinter land of Uttarandhra as SCs, STs,OBCs & minorities constitute 90 per cent of its population. It is strange that people in coastal areas talk about a developed Vizag city with high per capita income. It is true that the average, including Gajuwaka region, comes to Rs 2.6 lakh, but other areas including Bhimili, and Elamanchili, have lesser per capita income.
The per capita income of Araku, Kurupam, and Ichapuram in the region are even lower than that of Anantapur and Prakasam. Therefore, we want a development package for the region, including the executive capital, to get the spread effects of it for the development of the poor and underdeveloped. We, at the same time, wish that the government would resolve the issues of the farmers in Amaravati as they are also our Telugu brethren.
PROF KS CHALAM
Founder-President, Uttarandhra Adhyayana Vedika