While the Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi has welcomed the decision to establish a High Court in Kurnool, they have also expressed dissatisfaction over being forced into accepting the High Court instead of being given a choice between the court and the capital city.
A meet was held in Nandyal by the samithi to discuss the implications of the Sribagh pact on Thursday. Samithi president Bojja Dasaratha Rami Reddy claimed that Rayalaseema was forced into accepting the High Court.
Mr. Reddy, however, welcomed the move by the government. However, he added there were other things the Sribagh pact gives to Rayalaseema. “One of the most important ones is MLAs,” he said.
He claimed that the pact says that there should be an equal number of MLAs in Rayalaseema-Nellore and Coastal Andhra regions. “The government must make sure that more Assembly constituencies were created in Rayalaseema in the upcoming delimitation,” he added.
Irrigation projects
Over 11 lakh acres of land in the region is currently not irrigated, he said and demanded that the government construct the promised irrigation projects to completely fulfil the Sribagh pact.
“Rayalaseema region has lost out on over ₹15 lakh crore of agricultural income in the past 63 years as there is a dearth of irrigation projects,” Mr. Reddy claimed.
The water allocated from the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers is not properly being utilised by the region. The government must look into the matter and make sure that water allocations are properly met, he said.
Calling the linking of the Godavari and the Krishna rivers a pipe dream, Mr. Reddy said that the Rayalaseema region would only benefit if irrigation projects were completed. He advised the government to not follow in the path of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, but complete the irrigation projects in Rayalaseema.
