‘Do not build Amaravati on Krishna river floodplains’

The Natural City Master plan for Amaravati preserved the floodplain to use it as a perennial source of quality water for the inhabitants of the city.

Noted urban planning experts Vikram Soni and Romi Khosla have asked the A.P. government to push the seed capital inland.

Noted urban planning experts Vikram Soni and Romi Khosla have asked the Andhra Pradesh government to push the seed capital inland and not build it on the floodplain of Krishna River in accordance with the Master Plan prepared by a Singapore based company.

Theoretical Physicist and Delhi Jal Board Advisor Prof Vikram Soni released a book “Amaravati Natural City” he co-authored by well known international architect and national consultant on urban planning Romi Khosla in a programme organised by farmers and agricultural labourers of Amaravati Area here on Tuesday.

Explaining the concept of Natural City along with Indian Society of Landscape Architects (ISOLA) former president Suchin Jain, Prof. Soni said “cities should be able to manage themselves and be self-sustaining.”

Building on the floodplains of Adyar and Coovam Rivers in Chennai and earlier in the Mithi River in Mumbai had led to siltation and clogging of the waterways. This had caused the floods that resulted in loss of life and property, Prof. Soni said.

The building of embankments or bunds, without exit routes for water caused long-term inundation in Srinagar. Uttarakhand floods were also caused because of encroachments in River Zones, he said.

The Natural City Master plan for Amaravati preserved the floodplain to use it as a perennial source of quality water for the inhabitants of the city. The natural plan would also preserve its agricultural activities by shifting the location of the seed capital to a higher ground along a new water way, an artificial canal between the floodplains and the seed capital.

Former administrator of Chandigarh and retired IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam said urban planning had undergone revolutionary changes in the second phase of Chandigarh expansion. What was learnt through experimentation and experience in Chandigarh was already included in the Amaravati Natural city Master plan.

Amaravati Farmers leader Anumolu Gandhi said that the concept of Natural city would be taken to the farmers and through them pressure would be put on the government to implement it. He said copies of the Natural Master Plan would be given to the Chief Minister and the CRDA commissioner.