Hyderabad, Jul 23 (IANS): The Telangana government on Saturday decided to create 13 new mandals (blocks) in the state, saying the decision was taken as part of administrative reforms to make the administration more accessible to people.

The decision was taken keeping in view the demands of local people and their requirements. Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar issued orders to this effect.

Two mandals - Gundumal and Kothapalle - have been created in Narayanpet district. A new mandal, named Dudyal, has been carved out in Vikarabad district.

Mahabubnagar district will have a new mandal - Koukuntla. Aloor, Donkeshwar, and Saloora are the new mandals added in Nizamabad district.

Seerole mandal has been created in Mahabubabad district. The other new mandals are Gattuppal (Nalgonda), Nizampet (Sangareddy), Dongli (Kamareddy), and Endapally and Bheemaram (both in Jagtial).

The creation of new mandals is a continuation of the process of reorganisation of districts, revenue divisions and mandals initiated after the formation of Telangana in 2014.

At the time of formation as a new state, Telangana had only 10 districts. In 2016, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government created 21 new districts.

In February 2019, a couple of months after the TRS retained power, two more districts were created taking the number of districts in the state to 33.

With the creation of 13 new mandals on Saturday, the total number of mandals increased to 607.