NGT petitioner points to risk of earthquake in Amaravathi

The petitioner who has taken his case against the capital project says his opposition to it stems from a possible seismic threat to the future city.

Septuagenarian Pandalaneni Srimannarayana’s petition against the project led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issuing notices to the Union of India, Government of AP, Ministry of Forests and the Environment and Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) on Wednesday.

A PG in physics and native of Vijayawada, Srimannarayana was once a supporter of building the capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur region. That was when the Sivaramakrishnan panel rejected Vijayawada as a possible capital. “I then thought great injustice was being done to Vijayawada,” he said. But after a thorough research and discussions with civil and structural engineers, he found that the Vijayawada and its surrounding areas were classified in Seismic Zone III and therefore not fit to be made capital.

His interest grew further when CM Chandrababu Naidu announced that the capital would be developed on 1.5 lakh acres on the Krishna banks. “In total, over 7,000 sq km is earmarked for the capital. New York, considered to be among the biggest cities in the world, is just 4,500 sq. km. I asked myself where the CM is going to get the money from. It’s nothing but playing with the lives of farmers, as it takes years to make an acre cultivable. The entire family of a farmer works hard to do this,” he said.

Besides, the black cotton soil in the area is not suitable for 70-80 storeyed skyscrapers, he says. “There is no sand layer even at a depth of 150 feet . When I applied for permission to construct apartments in the same area 10 years ago, the government rejected it, saying the soil was not suitable for construction. There cannot be one rule for the govt. and one rule for the people,” he said.

“The impact of an earthquake will be more when it comes to skyscrapers, and soil liquefaction is more,” he said.

Next to the Krishna

The proposed capital also stands right next to the Krishna, which had huge floods of over 9 lakh cusecs as recently as 1998 and 2009. There are nine reservoirs on Krishna river above the Prakasam Barrage. “There was much damage when just the retaining wall of the Srisailam dam collapsed in 2009. What will happen if one of these reservoirs breaches,” Srimannarayana asked.

“Why take such risk when there is ample government land available at Nuzvid and Gannavaram,?” he asked.

He approached the Supreme Court first but was directed to go to the National Green Tribunal. The NGT has set July 26 as the date for the next hearing on his petition.