Fresh from his meeting with his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said differences between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana shcould be settled amicably. “Issues will arise when a family get separated. The same thing happed with us. We have to reduce the gap with a give-and-take approach,” he said after installing the foundation stone for a new terminal building at Gannavaram airport on Monday.
“On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, I went to Hyderabad and invited Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao for the Amaravati ceremony personally.”
Mr. Naidu said he spoke to Mr. Rao a few months ago when agricultural fields were drying up owing to non-availability of water. “I took the initiative and interacted with Mr. Rao and requested him to release water,” he said.
Referring to the construction of a new capital at Amaravati, he said a few political parties have been heckling his plans of developing a world class city at Amaravati.
Accusing the Congress and YSR Congress of trying to hamper development of the State, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu found fault with the two parties for opposing the Pattiseema project and the greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram. They raised a hue and cry over the delay in granting special category status.
“We need special category status and a special package from the Centre but it is not fair for the Opposition parties to criticise the Government on these sensitive issues,” he said. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu thanked farmers for giving land for developing the capital city and the Gannavaram airport. Mr. Naidu later presented saris and dhotis to farmers who handed over their land for the expansion of the airport.Airports Authority of India Chairman R. K. Srivastava said the terminal building would be constructed at a cost of over Rs.150 crore.
Baggage handling system, inclined arrival baggage claim carousels, central air-conditioning system, flight information display system, surveillance cameras, check-in counters with common use terminal equipment and car parking among other facilities would be provided at the upcoming building. He added that 5G services for the convenience of passengers were launched at the airport from Sunday.
Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu, who attended the ceremony, also advised the two States to resolve their differences through consultations.
