Andhra Pradesh has recently gone though a split with the formation of Telangana. Everything has been divided between the two states and now is the turn of forming a new capital for the leftover Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad was the state capital of AP before division and at present it is a joint capital of the two states. So can it be kept as a state capital? But before the split, the government in the residual Andhra Pradesh was not in the favour of keeping Hyderabad as a state capital and said that it would move out of the city within a year of the formation of the new state.
Now the new AP has to find out a new capital. Just after bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh had the option of three regions as state capital, viz., Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Ongole.
Visakhapatnam was considered to be the most suitable choice because it is the largest city after Hyderabad, a city with well developed infrastructure, an international airport, four universities and well connected rail and road network. Visakhapatnam is also a cosmopolitan city with lots of government land. Apart from this, it also has a harbour, shipping yards, steel plant, Railway Divisional offices, etc. But the Bay of Bengal on one side and forest on the other make it less advantageous.
Vijayawada is a developed city but less than Visakhapatnam. This educational hub has bit lesser scope of development because of the Krishna river flowing through it. The land is fertile and extensively used for agriculture. Thus, making it a state capital would not be a wise call.
Ongole is located at the centre of the divided Andhra Pradesh and has government-owned land. But points against the city are: hard to acquire cultivated land, less developed infrastructure and long distance from other developed cities in the state.
As per experts, Krishna and Guntur are perfect to play the role of capital. Krishna has more chances than Guntur because of higher development index. Guntur has less chance because of water problem. Moreover, the place has rich agriculture land like Vijayawada. Making it a state capital means cutting down paddy fields.
Kurnool is also in competition because of its proximity to International airport, and enough availability of water due to Thungabadra River.
An Expert Committee headed by K.C. Sivaramakrishnan has been formed to explore various new avenues and options for the new Capital of Andhra Pradesh. The Committee, as per the Section 6 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 will then submit its recommendations by August 31.
The Expert Committee will do its job by finding an appropriate location for the new capital of AP. It will do so by personally visiting the places, evaluating comparative studies and by discussing it with related stakeholders, present government of AP and central government.
There is a possibility that a land close to thick forest either in plain area or very close to thick forest will be acquired to develop a new city with administrative building and the required infrastructure. The state government had already proposed three locations for the same purpose – the Nallamala forest area, Macherla in Guntur district and Kakinada area in East Godavari district. These locations have been picked keeping in mind the availability of water and basic infrastructure. But no one is thinking that cutting forest and replacing it with concrete jungle will do more harm than good. If they want to build a new capital on forest area, then government must take steps to grow forest in another.
Experts believe that the area between Guntur and Vijayawada is the most suitable choice for forming a capital because of road connectivity and proximity to the Krishna River.
The state may have two administrative cities – one with the secretariat, assembly and Raj Bhavan and the other with the high court, legislative council and headquarters of state-level corporations.
The Committee will take many other things into account – only that location will be considered which requires the minimum possible displacement of agriculture and rehabilitation of local residents; further, it must adhere to and maintain the local ecology, possibility of natural disaster, minimum cost of acquisition of land, minimum cost of construction and easy availability of raw material and labour will also be considered.
Developing a new capital for sure will generate new jobs and provide awesome infrastructure but it will increase the burden of sharing resources with localities.
What will be new capital of Andhra Pradesh according to you? Your views are valuable.
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