Vizag traders threaten to close down port in protest against Telangana creation

Traders and officials have threatened to go on strike and close down the port in Visakhapatnam from Monday to express their displeasure over giving a green light for creating a separate state of Telangana from united Andhra Pradesh.

On July 30, the Congress party had passed a resolution to approve the creation of a new Telangana state, there was a mixed response to it.

Federation of Stevedores Association of India secretary K.V. Krishna Kumar said: "On 19th morning all the port users and trade members, which includes stevedores, CNDF agents, CHS, CFS operators, truck owners, trailer owners, warehouse owners and all the private berths at Visakhapatnam also have decided to stop all operations of the port for the first time in support of Samaikyandhra (United Andhra) movement."

"We want to send a clear message from the trade - we work together, we want to live together, that is the reason we all have taken this decision. Let the ministry understand what are the consequences, what local people can do. This is our opinion," said chairman, CII Visakhapatnam zone, G. Sambasiva Rao.

Since independence in 1947, successive governments have dealt carefully with demands for new states - creating three in 2000 - while ensuring demands did not spiral enough to threaten the integrity of a nation that now has 1.2 billion people with hundreds of languages, ethnicities and castes.

The four-decade-old demand for Telangana, which is to be carved out of the economically less developed part of Andhra Pradesh, gathered momentum after the Congress party ruled federal government accepted the demand in principle.

Several protests and shutdowns had brought Andhra Pradesh to a near halt in 2009 and 2010 as pro-Telangana activists persisted with their demand.

India currently has 28 states.