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     Dma Junior Artist Username: Dma Post Number: 135 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 63.226.59.105 Rating: N/A |
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/where-will-andhr a-have-its-capital-813 Even as agitations for and against the bifurcation of the state are raging in full force, hectic discussions are also on in the Congress about which city would be the ideal capital of Andhra state. A section of Congress leaders of the state are plumping for Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry as the possible capital while others want a new capital to be built afresh in Macherla or the Nellore-Tirupati highway. A report on the Congress core committee discussing the issue published in these columns renewed the debate on Saturday. Suggestions are aplenty but any location chosen should have one lakh acres of land for establishing the Secretariat, the High Court, the Assembly and Legislative Council buildings besides several commissionerates and directorates. There should also be land for an international airport and Industrial corridor. Further, there should be assured supply of water. Though any location near Vijayawada-Guntur is geographically feasible for the establishment for a new capital city, the non-availability of government and private lands is posing a big problem. The former minister, Mr Konatala Ramakrishna, feels that Visakhapatnam, the City of Destiny, would be ideal as the capital, but other leaders are not so enthusiastic. "It will be too far from Raayalaseema and Nellore regions," said one Congress leader. "Same is the case with Kurnool of Rayalaseema region though it was the capital of Andhra state from 1953 to 1956." These leaders point out that forcible acquisition of farmers lands around Vijayawada under Krishna delta would create big problems. The proposal to make Rajahmundry the capital would also face the same knotty problem — the non-availability of land. "It should not be a burden on the exchequer if a new city is developed near Nagarjunasagar-Macherla highway where plenty of government land is available unoccupied," said the former minister, Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy. He added that water would not be a problem either as the country's largest dam was located nearby. Also, this location would be convenient for people from Coastal Andhra and Raayalaseema, he said. At the same time, another former minister, Mr A. Prabhakar Reddy, said that the new capital can come up in the Nellore-Tirupati highway and can make use of Somasila and Kandaleru reservoir waters. But the endowment minister, Mr Gade Venkata Reddy, hinted that all this debate was idle since the chances of bifurcation of state are remote. |
