The first round of admissions for the engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh got over on 4th October and of the 1.82 lakh seats available, 55,000 are still empty.

The second round of admissions which began 5th October onwards has 88,000 seats available. However, the officials are of the view that not even 15,000 seats will be taken.

The colleges which have been impacted most are the ones situated in Hyderabad and Vijayawada and their surrounding areas, including other major areas which have been the hotspots of the Telengana agitation.

According to the Higher Education Department officials, initially colleges used to have a combination of students coming from Telangana, coastal and Rayalaseema districts. However this time the students are opting to get admitted in their native districts or to regions to which they belong. This is leading to the huge number of vacancies in the colleges in other areas.

Meanwhile, areas like Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor, which have not been affected by the bandhs declared by united-Andhra supporters, are now a favorite hotspot for students.

The deadline for Justice Srikrishna Committee to give his report on the issue for having a separate Telangana state is 31st December 2010.