With the formation of Telangana a certainty, Union Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has demanded relocation of two zonal headquarters of Railways to address developmental concerns of Andhra region.
Deo insisted that his demands do not harm Odisha's interests, as claimed in some quarters, and the state would continue to have one zonal headquarter if his suggestions are accepted.
Deo has written to Defence Minister A K Antony, who is heading a high power committee to look into the grievances and demands of different regions following UPA's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, that East Coast Railways Headquarters be shifted to Vishakhapatnam from Odisha capital Bhubaneswar.
Vishakhapatnam, which he has proposed to be the capital of Seemandhra, is ideally situated at the centre of the east coast between Kolkata and Chennai, he argued.
Deo, however, stressed that the interests of Odisha would not be harmed as he has also demanded that South Eastern Zonal Railways presently situated at Kolkata may be shifted to Bhubaneswar with Khurda attached to it.
Kolkata has presently two zonal headquarters, Eastern Zonal Railways and South Eastern Zonal Railways.
"Only after shifting the South Eastern Zonal Railways, the East Coast Zonal Headquarters presently situated at Bhubaneswar be shifted to Vishakpatnam with the addition of Vijayawada Division in lieu of Khurda Division," he said.
"There is no question of depriving Odisha of whatsoever in this regard," he said.
It should be appreciated that this was one of the proposals made to the Antony Committee in the context of the package for development of Andhra region, he said.
