he Centre has beaten back an attempt by the Andhra Pradesh Government to commandeer funds meant for the development of Amaravati, the ancient heritage town in Guntur district, to build tourism infrastructure in Amaravati, the future capital of the state.
The ancient town is one of the 12 cities chosen for the Union Government’s heritage preservation plan titled HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana).
The town with a history of 2500 years is quite distinct from the core capital area of Amaravati, the modern city planned to be built by the State Government.
The heritage site, once the seat of the Satavahanas, has also been identified as a beneficiary town under the Union Tourism Ministry’s PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme specifically meant for pilgrimage centres.
Both HRIDAY and PRASAD have been endowed with handsome funds. Andhra Pradesh tourism officials planned to club the funds meant for the ancient town under PRASAD and HRIDAY and use them for the modern capital.
They submitted their proposals to the committee constituted to implement HRIDAY but they were bounced back with a clear dictate: only old Amaravati is eligible for HRIDAY not the new Amaravati.
“We are revising the proposals accordingly now,” said Amarendra Kumar, executive director (projects) of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC).
The committee’s decision makes a clear distinction that building modern facilities in the future capital is not the same as preserving the heritage of Amaravati.
AP Tourism officials are revising the proposals now after the earlier ones rejected by
the centre
