VIJAYAWADA: The State government is moving fast to create new districts in the State for ease of administration. Andhra Pradesh, which currently has 13 districts, will henceforth have 26. A notification to this effect is likely to be issued soon.
The State Cabinet gave its nod to the formation of the new districts. After a virtual meeting of cabinet ministers on Tuesday, names of the new districts were finalised. The new districts are being formed under the AP Districts Formation Act, Section 3(5).
Though the new districts being created based on Parliamentary constituencies in the state, some of them have been renamed. Srikakulam town will be the headquarters of the Srikakulam district and Vizianagaram will be the headquarters of Vizianagaram district. Manyam district has been carved out of Vizianagaram district with Parvathipuram as its headquarters.
Araku valley region in Visakhapatnam district has been named Alluri Sitharama Raju district with Paderu as its headquarters. Visakhapatnam will have Visakhapatnam city as its headquarters. The area of Visakhapatnam will now have an area of 928 sq km, which is basically the port city and its suburbs. Anakapalli has been made a new district with Anakapalli town as headquarters.
East Godavari district has been divided into three districts — Kakinada, Konaseema and East Godavari, with Kakinada, Amalapuram and Rajamahendravaram as their headquarters, respectively. West Godavari district has been split into two districts — West Godavari with Bheemavaram as its headquarters and Eluru with Eluru as headquarters.
Krishna district has been split into two districts — NTR district and Krishna district with Vijayawada and Machilipatnam being their headquarters, respectively. Guntur district has been divided into three districts — Guntur with Guntur as its headquarters, Bapatla with Bapatla as its headquarters, Palnadu with Narasaraopet as its headquarters.
Ongole will be headquarters of Prakasam district and Nellore will be HQ of Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district. Kurnool district has been split into Kurnool and Nandyal districts with Kurnool and Nandyal towns as their headquarters, respectively. Anantapur district has been divided into two districts — Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai district, with Anantapur and Puttaparthi as their new headquarters, respectively. YSR Kadapa will have Kadapa as its headquarters, while Rajampet parliamentary constituency has been made Annamayya district with Rayachoty as its headquarters. Chittoor district has been divided into Chittoor and Sri Balaji districts, with Chittoor and Tirupati as their headquarters.
In fact, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced a plan to carve out new districts taking each Lok Sabha constituency as a unit long ago. The demand for the new districts has been in vogue for several years as it is of the view that it will be better to have smaller districts for administrative convenience, given the increase in population compared to a decade ago.
Krishna split into 2 districts, Guntur into three
Krishna district has been split into two districts — NTR district and Krishna district with Vijayawada and Machilipatnam being their headquarters, respectively. Guntur district has been divided into three districts — Guntur, Bapatla and Palnadu.