STATE OF PLAY
On April 24, around midnight, the Konta Area Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) set fire to a private bus, after asking the 40 passengers in the bus to alight, on the National Highway near Sarivela in Chintoor agency area of the newly created Alluri Sitharamaraju district of Andhra Pradesh. As this incident took place despite the Maoist movement in this part of the region being at its lowest ebb, questions have arisen about the need to create this district.
The recent exercise of bifurcation and re-organisation of districts by the State government has led to the number of districts growing from 13 to 26. Alluri Sitharamaraju, which has a high tribal population and low population density, was created after carving out areas from the districts of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari. It is now the second largest district in Andhra Pradesh after Prakasam.
