Seemandhra

Seemandhra region marked in yellow within the state of Andhra Pradesh

Seemandhra is a term sometimes used to refer to the combined regions of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra in Andhra Pradesh. The term came into wide use during the Telangana movement., as a way to refer to the parts of Andhra Pradesh that would remain after the separation of Telegana. Seemandhra corresponds to the area of Andhra State which existed in between 1953 and 1956, and was merged with the Telangana region to form current state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

The region is subdivided into 3 different regions Uttarandhra/Kalingandhra( Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam districts) Dakshina Costa( East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore districts) Rayalaseema( Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur disticts). The language of Telugu spoken in these regions is slightly different and thus is an indication of the diversity of this region.

On July 30, 2013 the ruling congress party announced its intention to carve Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh as the 29th state of India. Hyderabad will be the common capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years. At present Hyderabad would not be contiguous with Seemandhra. The new capital of the state is expected to be Visakhapatnam/ Vijayawada, but there is still an alternative proposal for Seemandhra which could resolve the issue of Hyderabad as a permanent common capital. This proposal means that if the Nalgonda district goes to Seemandhra, then this would enable Hyderabad to be a border city of Telangana and Seemandhra. Kishore Chandra Deo a union minister suggested to make Vizag the capital, while caste lobby politicians from Vijayawada and Seema are fighting to ensure they get the capital making Seemandhra a hub for caste based politics.

Major Cities

Visakhapatnam or Vizag is the biggest city in Seemandhra region with a population of 2 million people. It is the only city in Seemandhra with Greater status for its municipal corporation. Vizag has one of the major sea ports of India on the east coast and is also the headquarters of the Eastern Naval command of the Indian navy. It is also a big industrial hub, with Indias first shore based Steel Plant, HPCL, BHEL, NSTL, NTPC, Vizag port trust, Gangavaram port etc. It will also emerge as the IT hub post bifurcation. Vizag is well connected to different parts of India by Railway, Airway. It is the only international airport in Seemandhra with regular flights to Singapore and Dubai. Vizag airport is connected by air to Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore. While Vijayawada is the second biggest and is a business center. Vijayawada is a major railway junction in South India and is well connected through railway. The airport here is connected by air to Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The airport here is also a hub for the newly started Air Costa airline. With a very long coastline of close to a 1000 kms, this region can act as a maritime gateway on the East coast. Tirupathi the temple town is another major city in this region. It is the abode of Lord Venkateshwara/ Balaji, which is the highest earning temple in the world. It is a big pilgrimage center in India and is busy all round the year. Tirupathi has an airport and is connected with Hyderabad and Delhi. It is also well connected by railway with different parts of India. Rajahmundry is another important town and is on the banks of river Godavari in East Godavari district. Rajahmundry has a domestic airport and is connected with Hyderabad. Other major towns include Kakinada, Ananthapur, Guntur, Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor, Ongole, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Eluru, Nandyal, Bhimavaram, Machilipatnam, Gudivada, Puttaparthi etc.

Seaports

Vizag seaport is the biggest seaport in the region and is the 3rd biggest in the country. It handles coal, crude oil, sulphur and other products. It is on an expansion mode and aims to become a major sea port in South East Asia. It is a public sector port. Gangavaram seaport is another seaport in Vizag just a few kilometers away from Vizag seaport. It is a private port and is in close proximity to the Vizag steel plant. Kakinada port is a deepwater seaport in Kakinada and is a minor port. Machilipatnam port close to Vijayawada in Krishna district is another minor port. Nizampatnam is another major port in the Nellore district and is still yet to catch up and become a major cargo handling port. A new major port is proposed at Duggarajupatnam in Nellore district.

Roadways

The Kolkata-Chennai stretch of the National highway/ Golden quadrilateral NH 16 passes through all the coastal districts of Seemandhra, passing through Vizag, Vijayawada cities. NH 43 connects Vizag with Raipur via Vizianagaram, Salur, south Odisha. Vijayawada is the best in terms of connectivity when it comes to Highways. NH 9, NH 16 pass through Vijayawada. NH 221 connects Vijayawada to the east west corridor at Bhopalapatnam. NH 214 covers the Konaseema Godavari and the Krishna delta regions. NH 7 passes through Kurnool, Anantapur from Hyderabad to Bangalore. NH 205 connects Kurnool with Tirupathi. NH4 passes through Chittoor from Chennai to Bangalore. NH 18 connects Kurnool with Tirupathi. Other regions of the state are connected with state highways. But Seemandhra region deserves a much better connectivity of national highways.

Railways

Uttarandhra is the only regions which is under the Seemandhra under East Coast railway with headquarters at Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. The Waltair division based at Vizag is the second highest revenue earning division in the country. Regional bias by the East Coast railway has left Uttarandhrites with the demand of creating a new zone headquartered at Vizag. The rest of Seemandhra falls undr the South Central railway with headquarters at Secunderabad in Telangana regions. Post bifurcation there is a demand for the formation of new zone called South east coast railway by merging Waltair, Bezawada, Guntur, Guntakal divisions into one with headquarters at Vizag. This is very important for the benefit of this region. Vizag, Vijayawada, Kakinanda,Guntur and Tirupathi are the major railway stations. Vijayawada handles the most number of trains up to 200 daily and is well connected to most of India by trains passing through. Vizag on the other hand handles about 100-110 trains daily and has the most number of originating and terminating trains in this regions. Vizag is connected with Hyderabad, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Kollam, Gandhidham, Tatanagar & Jodhpur(starting soon) by direct trains. Most of the destinations above are also connected by trains passing through Vijayawada. Tirupathi is another major revenue earning station as it is a pilgrimage center.