Siddeswaram Weir movement to mark a decade of struggle for Rayalaseema’s rights

Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi Protection Committee president Bojja Dasaratha Ramireddy has announced that the 10th anniversary convention of the Siddeswaram Weir People’s Foundation Movement will be held in Nandyal on May 31.

Addressing the media, Mr. Ramireddy said the movement, launched on May 31, 2016, had played a key role in creating awareness about Rayalaseema’s irrigation rights, regional disparities, and the need for decentralised governance and development. At a time when the region lacked a strong people’s movement, the Siddeswaram Weir initiative laid the foundation for a sustained democratic struggle, he said.

Over the past decade, the movement had helped bring issues such as irrigation rights, regional imbalance, and the concentration of political and economic power into public discourse, he noted.

Mr. Ramireddy alleged that despite a series of democratic agitations and public campaigns over the past 12 years, successive governments had failed to ensure justice for Rayalaseema. He criticised the governments led by N. Chandrababu Naidu and Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing them of straying from the development vision of former Chief Ministers N. T. Rama Rao and Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and thereby slowing the region’s progress.

He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that despite promising an additional allocation of 200 TMC ft of assured water to Rayalaseema in its Rayalaseema Declaration, the party later compromised the region’s water interests for political reasons.

According to Mr. Ramireddy, governments over the past decade had focused on strengthening political and economic power centres while neglecting backward regions such as Rayalaseema and North Andhra. In that context, the forthcoming convention assumes significance, he said.

Several prominent personalities, including Vadde Shobanadreeswara Rao, Jhansi Lakshmi, Justice Gopala Gowda, and Prof. Venkateshu, are expected to participate in the convention and speak on Rayalaseema’s rights, balanced regional development, and democratic governance.