Yanam is one of the regions in the Union Territory of Puducherry, which is 870 kms away from the headquarters of the UT. It is actually located in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and the entire region, spanning 30 sq. km. consists of Yanam town and six villages in the vicinity, the whole treated as a municipality for purposes of local administration.
The recent violence that erupted in that local Regency Ceramics Ltd. is said to be a conspiracy of the sitting MP from a neighbourhood constituency, aimed at taking control over this region. Yanam has attracted many industries because of its seashore and several tax exemptions are also available from the Union government. The A.P. regional Congress and the Telugu Desam Party tried to enter the local politics but failed all through these years. (The local M.L.A. Malladi Krishna Rao won thrice in the Yanam constituency, as an independent from 1996 to 2007 and as a Congress candidate later.)
The residents of Yanam say that the local police are less in number and cannot establish law and order when mass violence bursts out. In the wake of the recent events, the A.P. Police from the neighbouring Kakinada responded only the next day and controlled the situation, but a few lives were already lost and the beautiful Yanam turned red! People here say that this MP of the ruling party wants to project Yanam as a sensitive area and that it should be merged with Andhra Pradesh for easier control over the law and order. If this happens, the local politicians from East Godavari and Vishakhapatnam can step in and loot the projects and natural resources of Yanam.
Yanam enjoys many tax benefits and people from nearby areas visit Yanam frequently as shopping, petrol/diesel, liquor, etc. are cheap here compared to other areas in the state of A.P. It may be remembered that Yanam was one of the oft-visited places during prohibition in the state of A.P., because there was no prohibition in Puducherry-administered Yanam. While the merger of Yanam into Andhra Pradesh may in a way be beneficial for better local administration, it would be a sad situation if such a merger is dictated by selfish politics.
