Even as various places are in the race for building the new capital of successor State of Andhra Pradesh, leading political personalities have called for an halt to “Hyderabad experience” and said there should be decentralisation of administration.
While the stretch between Vijayawada-Guntur, Ongole, Tirupati, surrounding areas in Prakasam, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool are being bandied about, major considerations in identifying the area for the proposed capital will obviously pertain to its connectivity and central location, besides the availability of adequate land and water.
American model mootedA senior Congress leader from Rayalaseema, who did not wish to be identified, said while different regions have their advantages and disadvantages, the American model of infrastructure development should be followed in developing the new capital and other areas.
In the wake of Hyderabad experience, important administrative wings like the High Court should not be located in the capital.
Former Rajya Sabha member, Dr. Yalamanchili Sivaji too echoed similar views and said the whole administration would have to be decentralised.
The High Court should be located elsewhere and “no industry zone” should be declared within a 60 km radius of the capital.
‘Ideal for new capital’He said the vast stretch between Vijayawada and Guntur was ideal for locating the new capital as 5,000 acres of Government land and 300 acres of Acharya Nagarjuna University were available. In addition, another 100 acres of land of the same university at Ongole could be put to use.
AdvantagesListing out the advantages of the area, he said it was like a “ready made capital” with perennial supply of drinking water, five to six teaching hospitals, 8 lanes of National highway and double electrification of railway lines.
Dr. Sivaji said around 40 engineering colleges were ‘ready for sale” and those buildings could be used for government offices. Around 60-70 lakh population could be easily accommodated as there was necessary physical infrastructure and almost every villages was connected by RTC buses. To develop similar infrastructure at another location would require huge investments to the tune of Rs.6-7 lakh crore.
ConnectivityAnother major advantage was train connectivity. As many as 340 trains pass through Vijayawada connecting all parts of the country. “The aim is to have optimum utilisation of limited resources”, he added.
