The outright rejection of the recommendations of the Sivaramakrishnan committee on the construction of the capital city of Andhra Pradesh came in for severe criticism by M.G. Devasahayam who was a former IAS officer of the 2nd phase construction of Chandigarh city in the 1950s.
The bid submitted by the Ascendas-Singbridge-led consortium was not unsolicited. It should have been an unsolicited or a suo motu proposal but it was not, which makes the developer agreement that the GoAP had signed void ab initio (from the beginning), he asserted.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Construction of Amaravati - the consequences of Swiss Challenge’ organised by the Tax Payers’ Association here on Wednesday, Mr. Devasahayam said the Singapore companies had sought a ‘State guarantee’ for their stakes against the norms.
Amaravati does not require more than 6,000 acres of land and it should have been planned at a place where a large-scale dislocation of agricultural activity could be avoided. Unfortunately, the capital city project has already dealt a severe blow to horticulture in 29 villages. “The Government of AP (GoAP) has blatantly violated all laws right from the selection of the place to awarding the works to a foreign consortium and inviting counter proposals through the Swiss Challenge system. The Krishna delta, which is one of the finest I have seen, is going to be destroyed unless the government takes corrective action at least now. Otherwise, people are going to face a major crisis,” he added.
