Rajahmundry, a rapidly developing city in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, is facing problems with stretching its city limits to become a “Greater City” from last 25 years.

It was upgraded to a city in 1995 with an initial proposal to merge 9 villages however the leaders in those villages opposed the merger and halted the process by impleading in the State High Court. In 2011, the proposal was revised to include 22 villages but nothing has been materialized till now as there was a constant opposition from the political leaders.

The current proposal is to merge at least 21 to 24 villages, which are namely:  1) Dhowleswaram 2) Vemagiri 3) Bommuru 4) Pidimgoyi 5) Rajavolu 6) Hukumpeta 7) Satellite City 8) Kolamuru 9) Katheru 10) Venkatanagaram 11) Torredu 12) Lalacheruvu 13) Namavaram 14) Chakradwarabandham 15) Diwancheruvu 16) Velgubanda 17) Palacharla 18) Rajanagaram 19) Gadala 20) Nidigatla 21) Burugupudi 22) Madhurapudi 23) Narendrapuram 24) Kadiam. 

The current city area is 44.5km2. With the inclusion of these 24 villages, the city area will increase to approximately 240km2. The city urban outgrowth is already 163km2. The expansion is essential to facilitate for future development in the region as there are no vacant lands within the current city limits. There is a state-level University, an Airport and many Engineering and Medical colleges already established in these villages but proper infrastructure such as roads, sanitation, drinking water and electricity supply is still lacking in this region. There is a proposal to construct an outer ring road and also to establish an industrial area in this region.

The main reason for the village leaders to oppose this expansion is reportedly their unwillingness to lose their political hold in those villages. There is some resistance also due to possible increase in taxes but considering the potential benefits and future development in this region, these apprehensions are baseless. There is a lot of political intervention by some leaders who are pressurizing the Municipal Authorities to exclude villages from Rajanagaram Mandal. Rajanagaram and Narendrapuram are already excluded due to political pressures. Currently, the merger is approved as a special case by the State Governor but it has been limited to 10 villages only. The issue of merging other 11 villages is still pending with the High Court.

At this juncture, the Municipal Corporation is getting ready for the Municipal Polls in a few months. The Gram Panchayat elections are not conducted in all those 21 villages and it is a good time for the Municipal Authorities to plead further in the High Court and complete the merger process.

Please support our plea for the formation of Greater Rajahmundry with inclusion of at least 21 villages. Rajahmundry can become a smart city and a major Metropolitan in the state in the coming years if it attains the "greater" tag.

P.S: More details on the issue that appeared in several newspapers is available in this link: Greater Rajahmundry News