Coastal Andhra
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Coastal Andhra or Kosta (or simply called as Andhra) is an unofficial region of India's Andhra Pradesh state. Coastal Andhra includes the northern coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, from the northern border with Orissa to south of the delta of the Krishna River. It includes the districts of Guntur, Krishna, East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Prakasam and Nellore.
The coastal Andhra has rich agricultural land owing to the delta fed by rivers Godavari and Krishna. The prosperity of coastal Andhra can be attributed to its rich agricultural land and abundant water supply from these two rivers. Rice paddy is the main crop besides pulses and coconut crops.
Lake Kolleru, a natural sweet-water lake, is situated in the West Godavari district and serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for the two rivers. The lake also is an important habitat for up to 50,000 resident and migratory birds. The lake was declared a wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under India's Wildlife Protection Act, and designated a wetland of international importance in November 2002 under the international Ramsar Convention.
Konaseema is a small delta region in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. Often people confuse Konaseema with Coastal Andhra/Kostha. The River Godavari is separated into 2 different tributaries at Dowleswaram, both emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The triangular region surrounded by these two rivers and Bay of Bengal is called Konaseema.
[edit] Agriculture
The four districts of coastal Andhra, East Godavri, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur form delta area where the two biggest rivers of the state Krishna and Godavari meet Bay of Bengal. This area forms very fertile agriculture base for the state of Andhra Pradesh and touted as rice bowl of India for its rich rice production. Being lower riparian region and at an elevation of sea level, it has the advantage of being irrigated with canals and dams that are built upstream. This creates lot of contention with upper riparian region of Telanagana where the average height of the lands exceed 300 m above sea level and the river water cannot be flowed by gravity.
[edit] Separate Statehood movement
In 1956, the region of Andhra was split from former Madras state and merged with Telangana and Rayalaseema and formed Andhra pradesh. To unite all Telugu speaking people, the people of Andhra sacrificed their interests and made Hyderabad, part of Telangana as their capital. Ever since the formation Andhra Pradesh, lot of investors from Andhra invested heavily in the new capital. Though it helped city of Hyderabad it created a wedge between people of Andhra and Telanagana. In 1969, fueled by political ambitions of few leaders, the issue of separate Telangana was raised by Mr M. Chenna Reddy after forming a party called Telanagan Porata Samithi. But the movement was disappeared and merged into congress after the leaders were offered plum positions in the ruling govt.
In 1983, Mr NT Rama Rao, the matinée idol of telugu film industry used his glamour to start a new party called Telugu Desam and came to power with landslide victory and the claims for Telengana statehood took back seat. Next 20 years have seen an unprecedented investment in Hyderabd. It is during rule of Chadra Babu naidu, the son-in-law of Mr NT Rama Rao, Hyderabad has seen tremendous growth at the expense of rest of the state, including northern telangana. Once again opportunists leaders from telangana ceased on the opportunity to start another movement, this time by Mr K Chandra sekhar Rao by starting a new party, Telangana Rastra Samithi. Unlike previous movements, KCR turned up the rhetoric a notch higher and used abuse against andhrites as launching pad to incite regionalism among Telanganites. Fearful of losing all their hard work and investment in Hyderabad, leaders across Andhra are also voicing their concern and demanding separate state of their own. By the time this write-up goes to press, there are 3 or 4 parts of Andhra Pradesh demanding separate state, including union territory for Hyderabad. Irrespective of how many parts the state will be divided, the central government will be hard pressed to build new capitals and compensate new states for all the investment they put in Hyderabad.
