Hyderabad, April 5 (AHN) The government of Telangana has urged the Centre to pass a Bill in the Parliament to restore five villages that were merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao has written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to table a bill during the current session of the Parliament to re-merge five villages with Telangana.

The state minister, who comes from Khammam district, demanded that the five villages near Bhadrachalam be restored to Telangana for administrative convenience. He also highlighted the problems faced by tribals due to these five villages being under the control of Andhra Pradesh.

The demand for passing a bill to restore five villages comes close on the heels of Parliament passing a Bill to accord statutory status to Amaravati as the only and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh.

During the debate on the bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the MPs from Telangana had raised the issue of Telangana villages merged with Andhra Pradesh.

Nageswara Rao had met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in February and requested that five villages be restored to Telangana.

The minister had said after meeting the Chief Minister that Parliament has to pass legislation to return five villages to Telangana.

He recalled that in 2014, the Centre had merged seven mandals from Telangana’s Khammam district with Andhra Pradesh to facilitate the construction of the Polavaram project across the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.

Nageswara Rao said one has to cross these five villages in Andhra Pradesh to enter Telangana from Bhadrachalam town.

The minister said that the Assemblies of both states must pass resolutions urging the Centre to transfer the five villages to Telangana.

Rao had claimed that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu responded positively to the request.

The Telangana minister had also written letters to Amit Shah and Chief Minister Naidu in November last year.

He had urged the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government to restore five villages adjoining the temple town of Bhadrachalam back to Telangana in view of their “deep historical, religious, tribal welfare and administrative significance.”

“These habitations are geographically positioned like an enclave between Telangana lands on two sides, with the Godavari river and reserve forest areas on the other, creating an administrative island and posing various challenges to both states,” he said.