The Andhra Pradesh government will come out with its land pooling policy in a month’s time after studying some more cities where land pooling method was adopted for building capital cities or extending them.
Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana, who heads the committee on the capital city, said they had so far visited Chandigarh, Gandhinagar and Naya Raipur cities.
In the land pooling method, land owners would become partners in development and part of developed land would be given to them. The committee submitted its report to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on the land pooling method and share of developed land given to land owners in the three areas and their experiences, both positive and negative.
“The Chief Minister wanted us to visit some more areas such as Noida, Pune and Navi Mumbai before we finalise our land policy. Our aim is farmers who give land should benefit,” said Mr. Narayana at a media conference here on Tuesday.
Lessons fromNaya RaipurReplying to a question he said 80 per cent of farmers were ready for land pooling but they were awaiting the government’s land policy. If the government did not get adequate land through pooling, then it may acquire land under the new land acquisition policy.
After the experience of Naya Raipur where employees’ families did not shift due to lack of educational institutions, hospitals and recreation, Chief Minister is convinced that social infrastructure should be developed parallel to the capital city development. The idea therefore is to pool enough land in the range of 10,000 acres to 50,000 acres for different zones like official, residential, recreation, social infrastructure.
