Kavitha urges AP CM Naidu to return 5 villages to Telangana, rekindles border dispute
Hyderabad: BRS leader and Telangana Legislative Council member Kalvakuntla Kavitha has written an open letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, urging him to facilitate the return of five village panchayats to Telangana. The villages are Yetapaka, Kannaigudem, Gundala, Pichukalapadu and Purushothapatnam, are located near Bhadrachalam town and were part of the undivided Khammam district before the bifurcation.
In her letter, Kavitha stated that these villages, which share deep cultural and administrative ties with Bhadrachalam, were wrongly merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014 under the pretext of the Polavaram project. She said the merger was executed through an ordinance during the NDA government, in which Naidu played a key role.
According to Kavitha, the transfer of these mandals also gave Andhra Pradesh control of the Lower Sileru Power Plant, contributing to electricity shortages in Telangana. She said the reallocation has created ongoing challenges for local residents, who now face long travel distances to access basic services such as education, healthcare and employment.
Kavitha also raised concerns about the forest lands associated with the Sri Sitarama Swamy Temple in Bhadrachalam. She pointed out that although the temple is in Telangana, its forest lands are located in Purushothapatnam village, which now falls under Andhra Pradesh’s jurisdiction. She alleged that this has led to illegal encroachments, and mentioned an incident where the temple’s Executive Officer, Ramadevi, was attacked while attempting to stop the encroachments.
Questioning the Centre’s silence on the issue, Kavitha wrote that Bhadrachalam, known as the town of Lord Rama, is facing the threat of submergence due to the Polavaram project, even as the NDA government frequently invokes the deity’s name. She concluded the letter by urging CM Naidu to act in the interest of the affected villagers and to begin the process of merging the five villages back into Telangana.
