Who developed Hyderabad ?

Despite being a Telanganite, I have never been a supporter of separate Telangana state as I don't believe that the problems Telangana facing now will be solved by a separate state. Now, all protesting for separate Telangana believe that disassociating with Andhra Pradesh will solve all problems. This is a mother of all myths.

All those who are currently fighting for Telangana state on the pretext of injustice were once ministers of the same cabinets which are guilty of injustice. Political unemployment made them start the movement and once the state is bifurcated their future and political career (and also their dynasty`s) will be safe guarded.

Irreparable damage has already been done. The remainder is only a political circus. Nothing is going to make a difference.

BUT what I don't see eye to eye is when people from other regions claim that Hyderabad is what because of the development done by them.

Pro-united AP protestors claim that Telangana is a poor area and people from Andhra and Rayalseema have developed Hyderabad and they have equal share in the fortunes of Hyderabad. The very base of samaikhyandhra movement is the potential loss of Hyderabad to Telangana. If Hyderabad was geographically not in Hyderabad, its a open fact that nobody would be interested in Samaikhyandhra and Telangana would not have been given any credit of developing the combined city.

Its quite an analogy that NRI`s can`t take credit of developing US (despite significant contribution) just because the very exodus to foreign land is to prosper from that land and not to develop that land.

History Speaks:

Telangana area (erstwhile Hyderabad state) was the richest and the largest princely state in the pre-independent India and the ruler of Hyderabad was a celebrated person and the richest man in the world for decades before the state was annexed into the present Andhra Pradesh.

Before formation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad (a city with 500 yrs of history) was the only city in whole South India with well planned and built reservoirs, drinking water facilities, drainage and sewage facilities, network of hospitals, roads, railways, monuments,oldest university of the state and all development related to administration. British empire, Qutubshahis, Nizams have put the city in the forefront of the economic map centuries ago. 

And during these times, others cities or towns of present AP were relatively non-existent. Visakhapatnam was a small fishing village till late 1930`s till the port was built. Steel plant, BHEL and other industries have been setup only after formation of AP. Vijaywada, Guntur, Tirupati were small towns. Kurnool which was a capital didn`t have sufficient infrastructure to have an assembly building and administrative facilities and Guntur hosted a temporary high court. By then Hyderabad had a developmental history with readymade facilities to work as a political and administrative capital of any state. This explains the mass exodus to the city from other areas (including North Indians)

SO NO ONE DEVELOPED HYDERABAD POST AP FORMATION. Hyderabad was made capital of the state so that the whole state can benefit from the development and facilities which were already in place. After AP formation, if Hyderabad was developed from combined resources, other cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada were given a huge shot in the arm too.

Today Hyderabad city alone generates 37% of state revenue. And a piece of news to all those who claim, Telangana without Hyderabad is a poverty stricken under developed area; Telangana (excluding Hyderabad) generates 24% of the state`s revenue whereas Andhra generates 15% and Rayalaseema generates 4%. 45% of forest area of AP is in Telangana. This shows which is the most resourceful area in AP. But this resourcefulness is not converted into prosperity due to:

Problems:

Telangana state is still the richest area in terms of natural resources. 79% of Godavari, 69% of Krishna flows through Telangana but unfortunately no district of Telangana is benefited from the situation. Karimnagar, Adilabad districts witnessed farmer suicides despite being in the Godavari river-bed. Nalgonda`s population is still suffering from fluoride problem of borewell water though Krishna rivers flows there (and yeah Nagarjuna Sagar is in Nalgonda District). Mahbubnagar district, where Krishna river enters AP, is the most backward and barren district of AP.

Reason: There is no project built to save some river water to irrigate these lands. As a result Godavari districts, Krishna, Guntur are undisputed granaries of AP.

Nagarjuna Sagar was built in Nalgonda district and the reservoir was built after submerging many villages in the district only to end up providing 3/4th of the waters to Guntur, Krishna and Prakasam districts. This explains famers` woes in Telangana.

As mentioned in my previous post about the same issue, Singareni collieries (the largest coal mines of South india), Ramagundam (the biggest power stations in South India) and other heavy and small industries of Telangana employ very less local Telanganites. This explains the unemployemt problem.

After formation of AP, 16 chief ministers ruled the state for 54 years out of which only 6 years were ruled by Telangana CMs (PV Narasimha Rao, Chenna Reddy, Anjaiah). This explains the step-brother treatment towards the region. Though I don`t subscribe to the idea that more CMs from Telangana would have made any difference as not more than 10% of policy makers and bureaucrats are from Telangana. Tadaaaa

Govt of India recognized 13 districts in AP as backward and 9 of them are from Telangana (yes, all Telangana districts except Hyderabad)

Telugu identity of Telangana is always ridiculed and mocked by public, movies, literature and other fora alike. The fact remains that the language gets adulterated by regional factors and so did Telangana slang and same is the case with other slangs of the state. But the history says that Telangana area is the place where authentic Telugu heritage lies. The most impressive and celebrated hertiage of Telugu people comes from Kakatiyas and Satavahanas who established, ruled and contributed to the region.

Coastal area was eclipsed by Tamil dynasties like Cholas and Pandyas (with a brief respite from Chalukyas) and Rayalaseema area was ruled by an able Sri Krishnadevarayalu (a kannadiga). So it goes without saying that Telugu history is synonymous to Telangana history.

Rivers, industries, revenues, heritage - Telangana has been the cradle of Telugu civilization which has been utilized by some and exploited by some for the development of Andhra Pradesh state. But the very host area became a victim of its own benevolence. Probably Telangana is the only area in India which flourished before independence and suffered after independence :)

Solution:

Telangana supporters must understand that bifurcation can never be a solution to the under-development. After separation, Adilabad might be under developed than Hyderabad or Warangal. or Old City might be under developed compared to Banjara Hills. We can't start another movement for every sub-region. Can we ?

Samaikhyandhra supporters must understand that "being united" is about having mutual trust and respect. One can't humiliate Telangana slang, culture, roots and then protest for unity. Lack of trust due to this humiliation and indifference is the root cause for the whole issue, not under-development or other reasons.