Demand for new mandals get louder in erstwhile Adilabad

Adilabad: Demand for creation of new mandals is getting louder in erstwhile Adilabad district day by day with the State government declaring 13 new mandals in different districts recently. On July 23, the government gave its nod to carve out 13 more mandals in nine districts to ease administration. It has spurred demands for creation […]

Adilabad: Demand for creation of new mandals is getting louder in erstwhile Adilabad district day by day with the State government declaring 13 new mandals in different districts recently.

On July 23, the government gave its nod to carve out 13 more mandals in nine districts to ease administration. It has spurred demands for creation of new mandals in Adilabad and Nirmal districts.

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For instance, residents of Ponkal and surrounding villages in Mamada mandal began a relay hunger
strike demanding mandal status to their village on Saturday.

The agitators reasoned that Ponkal could be converted into a mandal headquarters by merging surrounding 10 villages such as Kamalkota, Adarshanagar, Tembareni, Potharam, Ananthapet, Venkatapur, Veldurthi, Bandalkhanapur and Shantinagar and Venkatapur Thanda, with it. It has infrastructure to upgrade as a mandal centre. Ponkal and the villages have a population of nearly 20,000, they added.

Setting their political ideologies aside, leaders of TRS, Congress, BJP and other political parties formed a joint action committee with a sole objective to achieve mandal status. They cautioned that they would
intensify stir and exert pressure on the government until Ponkal was declared as a mandal centre. They wanted the government to consider their demand.

Meanwhile, residents of Bhoraj, Guda, Sirsanna, Posayi, Pipperwada, Gimma, Akoli, Korata villages in Jainad mandal represented to Adilabad MLA Jogu Ramanna, seeking mandal status to Bhoraj a week back. Ramanna assured to bring this issue to the notice of the government and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The government is likely to approve this demand, said a source.

Similarly, dwellers of Sathnala, Medaguda (C), Medaguda (R), Saidapur, Mangurla, Sundarigir, Jamini, Maruguda, villages in Jainad mandal and Sangvi, Dubbaguda, Saidapur, Dauna, Masala (K), Kara and Thoyaguda villages of Bhela mandal submitted a copy of resolution to Collector Sikta Patnaik in Adilabad seeking the status to Sathnala on July 29.

“Jainad mandal accounted for 42 gram panchayats and is considered one of the largest mandals in Adilabad. People of remote villages are struggling to reach mandal headquarters for various official works. For example, residents of Sathnala village need to travel around 50 kilometers to reach their mandal headquarter, shelling huge amounts,” Maddula Ushanna, a leader opined.