As the time for general elections is fast running out, the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) is under intense pressure to show a tangible result as far as realising the dream of Amaravati, ‘the people’s capital’, is concerned.
The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) seems to have run out of options except to warn its ally BJP that it will be forced to pull out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the latter fails to grab the last chance to implement the A.P. Reorganisation Act (APRA) in letter and spirit.
The GoAP would have been on a strong wicket had it at least got the foundation stone laid for the Raj Bhavan, High Court, Assembly and Secretariat, which have been touted as iconic buildings that will trigger the transformation of the capital region into a futuristic city.
The sad thing is, not a single brick has been laid for them.
Except for the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi, and a few institutes of national importance that sprang up, the government has no achievement to show off at this juncture.
The government has chosen a set of designs submitted by Foster + Partners (F+P) for the High Court and Assembly buildings but they are not yet through the finishing touches.
Team F+P came up with some striking designs under the guidance of Lord Norman Foster, of which a handful were picked by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Ace film director S.S. Rajamouli too gave his viewpoint on how to make the buildings reflect the ancient architectures with which this region was identified centuries ago.
On the other hand, the tendering process and awarding of trunk road and most other essential infrastructure works are still under way.
Ad hoc AIIMS
Work on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Mangalagiri is going on at a snail’s pace with only the compound wall being constructed. As it is set to take a longer time, arrangements are being made for constructing temporary classrooms and labs for the AIIMS at the Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada.
Institutions like the National Institute of Design have started functioning on an ad hoc basis at various places in the capital region while a handful of others, like the VIT University, have completed the construction of their main buildings.
Metro rail not in sight
Then there is the proposed metro rail project in Vijayawada which appears to figure nowhere in the agenda of the Ministry of Urban Development due to certain objections raised by the NITI Aayog previously and the complexities involved in getting 100% Central funding for it. This is against the backdrop of a letter written to the CM by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in May 2016, in which he stated that ‘it may not be possible for the Central government to provide 100% funding for the metro projects’.
If that does not materialise, the State has to bear the burden of raising financial resources on its own to an extent which is not clear in the present scenario.
It is also pertinent to mention here that the revised metro rail policy has made PPP component must for availing Central assistance, which puts a big question mark on how the State handles it.
Putting things in a broad perspective, Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana, a few days ago, said the State had at the beginning submitted a DPR for development of the capital region in the long-run at an estimated total cost of ₹5,00,000 crore and the Central government thus far released ₹2,500 crore out of the immediate assistance of ₹5000 crore sought at that time.
The financial plan for the capital city was pegged by McKinsey & Co. (one of the consultants for CRDA) at ₹30,000 crore.
It remains to be seen whether the Central government will now release significant additional sums towards the special financial assistance, which has been promised to A.P. in lieu of the Special Category Status (SCS) or back off citing its own reasons.
Whatever happens now will decide the future of A.P. that is proudly touted as the Sunrise State.
