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Updated: Aug 27, 2019 07:09 IST

The latest statement made by Andhra Pradesh municipal administration and urban development minister Botsa Satyanarayana that the state government was seriously considering relocation of capital city from Amaravati triggered an uproar in the state.

While declaring Amaravati as not suitable for being the capital city as the entire place was prone to frequent floods to Krishna river, the minister said the government would soon come out with an announcement with all details.

According to a senior leader in the YSR Congress party familiar with the development, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy might not completely abandon Amaravati as the capital city, but go in for a decentralized administrative set-up as recommended by Sivaramakrishnan committee in August 2014.

K S Sivaramakrishnan, who retired as secretary of Urban Development and was chairman of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, headed the five-member committee constituted by the Centre in March 2014 to suggest a new capital region for Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation of the state.

The committee did not favour a single large capital city with concentration of legislature, judiciary and executive comprising numerous ministries, departments, commissionerates and directorates at one place as a feasible option.

It also opposed building a capital city in the present location of Amaravati which falls in Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri area as it will result in possible unplanned expansion of urban areas, besides destruction of fertile lands. It also warned of possible seismic threat to Amaravati region due to high water table in the area and said it might lead to severe problems of foundations and soil bearing capacities.

Instead, the committee divided the state into three regions, where capital functions and other institutions can be distributed: Visakhapatnam region, Rayalaseema Arc and Kalahasti – Nadikudi spine.

The committee recommended that various governmental offices, particularly those dealing with industry, manufacture, ports, shipping, petrochemical etc may be located in Visakhapatnam zone. “Additionally, there are also a number of technical institutions, including specialised institutions of high technology,” it said.

The Rayalaseema Arc, the committee suggests it can be developed as high capacity transport corridor, since it has Hyderabad-Kurnool-Anantapur-Bangalore highway which is part of the golden quadrilateral system and in future, it can be connected to Mumbai-Bangalore corridor.

Similarly, Kalahasti-Nadikudi zone can be developed as industrial zone covering the proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai corridor. It has potential for greenfield development of nodal cities.

“The decentralized administration will result in equitable development of all the regions. The committee recommends all IT and industry related departments in Vizag, agriculture related departments in Prakasam, animal husbandry in Ongole, education in Anantapur, health and irrigation in Nellore and welfare in Kadapa,” it suggested.

According to the YSRCP leader mentioned above, Jagan would continue to run the government from the existing administrative structures in Amaravati. “The existing secretariat, state assembly, high court, residential quarters being constructed for MLAs, ministers, judges, all-India service officers and secretariat employees will continue,” he said.

All the remaining structures planned by previous Chandrababu Naidu government like high-rise towers for IT companies, malls, commercial complexes and five-star hotels might not come up. “As recommended by the Sivaramakrishnan committee, other government offices, industrial establishments and educational institutions would be distributed to different regions,” he said.

BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member T G Venkatesh, who claimed to have got information from a senior leader in Delhi, said Jagan was indeed planning to decentralize the capital. “Apart from Amaravati, he will have three other capital regions and will develop the same by appointing four regional planning boards,” he said, while speaking to reporters at Kurnool on Sunday.

Former IAS officer I Y R Krishna Rao, who was the chief secretary of Andhra government during declaration of Amaravati as the capital city, welcomed the idea of decentralized administrative units, instead of a single huge capital city.

“In my view, not more than 2,000 acres out of 33,000 acres of land taken from farmers under land pooling has been put into use till now. The remaining land can be given back to farmers. But, I suggest the Jagan government should hold intense discussions for all the stakeholders before deciding on the capital shift,” he said.

Telugu Desam Party strongly opposed any attempt to shift the capital from Amaravati. “We shall take up indefinite fast along with farmers if the government shifts capital,” former minister and senior TDP leader Paritala Sunitha said on Monday.