The demand for a second capital in Andhra Pradesh will be taken into account by the Sivaramakrishnan Committee when the panel will submit its recommendations to the Centre, its members said here on Monday.
“Having two capitals for administrative convenience is a good idea,” panel member and Director of Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bangalore, Aromar Revi said, in a reply to a query at a media briefing at the the Collectorate here. He cited the example of Brazil and South Africa which have two capitals.
Mr. Revi also promised to consider the option of making Kadapa, located at an equal distance from Nellore, Prakasam and four Rayalaseema districts, as a regional centre for development. Reiterating that only one city was ideal in all respects to be the capital, he said, the capital should be chosen carefully keeping in view the long-term repercussions.
Development of a capital would affect the processes for 50 to 100 years and the most important issues was water availability, Mr. Aromar Revi said, adding that agriculture land should not be disturbed for development. Comparing the Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra region,
Mr. Revi said that Rayalaseema was backward and drought-prone.
“With limited river water, pending irrigation projects, there is a need to ensure water for at least one crop, Mr. Revi said. “On the other land, Coastal Andhra has sensitive ecological zones facing storms and cyclones and safety is a concern,” he added.
Earlier Mr. Revi, K.T. Ravindran, former Dean of School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and P. Thimma Reddy, Director of Town and Country Planning, Hyderabad, elicited views of government officials, several political parties and people’s organisations.
Meanwhile, there was a unanimity among leaders of Telugu Desam Party, YSRC, CPI(M), Congress and several people’s organisations in the demand that the capital, or at least the second capital, of the State be established in Rayalaseema region.
Capital sought in RayalaseemaYSRC MLA C. Adinarayana Reddy, who separately submitted a representation to the panel, said all YSRC MLAs wanted Kadapa as capital and were prepared to resign for the cause. CPI(M) district secretary B. Narayana said the region had been neglected by the successive governments.
District Congress Committee president Shaik Nazeer Bashaalso favoured Kadapa as the location of the capital.
Dalita United Front convenor S. Manohar demanded that the capital be set up either in Kadapa, Tirupati or Kurnool, while Rayalaseema Karmika Karshaka Samithi president Ch. Chandrasekhar Reddy pitched for Kurnool and termed the constitution of the committee as an eye-wash.
