The Sivaramakrishnan Committee on the capital for Andhra Pradesh has made it clear that it did not consider a single large capital city as a feasible option and found the Vijayawada- Guntur stretch strongly pitched by the State Government as “unfeasible for financial reasons and undesirable for decentralised development.”
Instead, the committee sprang a surprise by suggesting “distribution of capital functions and other institutions to three sub-regions”. These are: Vizag region in North Andhra; Rayalaseema Arc comprising Kurnool, Anantapur, Tirupati, Kadapa and Chittoor and Kalahasti-Nadikudi Spine, the land along the proposed Kalahasti- Nadikudi railway line which, the committee feels, may emerge as development region.
The 188-page report submitted to Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday has apparently disappointed Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu as he and his Cabinet colleagues have been lobbying hard for the VGTM area for building a “world class capital.” After the committee’s choices became clear, the government has started arguing that its recommendations were not mandatory and that it was for the government and political leadership to take the final call on such critical issues.
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On why it was against super city as capital, the committee pointed out that the Andhra Pradesh government itself was not in favour of a greenfield city. It recalled that the Chief Minister had repeatedly mentioned that 2 or 3 of the existing cities like Visakhaptanam-Tirupati and Vijayawada-Guntur may expand to mega city sizes.