Hyderabad: The Centre-appointed Sivaramakrishnan Committee on Saturday stated that the “Bhubaneswar model” within the country would be more appropriate to be emulated for constructing a capital for AP.
When it was brought to his notice that the Chief Minister was keen on having a capital between Vijayawada-Guntur, the five-member committee head and former Union urban development secretary K.C. Sivaramakrishnan said they were “not against” the two cities. Though the Central committee is favouring the AP government’s choice for a capital city to be located in Krishna and Guntur districts, in principle, it has some reservations.
“The Chief Minister told us that Vijayawada-Guntur is centrally located. It can’t be disputed. But there are other parameters to be taken into consideration to set up a capital. Availability of land is an issue in Vijayawada-Guntur belt. Lot of fertile land, where multiple cropping is going on, has to be acquired and huge compensation needs to be paid. If farmers are thrown out of their fertile land, the issue of food security also arises You can’t displace people or rob them of livelihood for a capital,” Mr Sivaramakrishnan and another committee member Mr A. Ravi, said.
“Cities like Bhubaneswar is connected to Cuttack, Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad, Putrajaya to Kuala Lumpur and Islamabad to Rawalpindi. I think Bhubaneswar is a reasonably successful model. It is not just a collection of government offices, but amalgamation of lot of other activities. It is people who make the city,” Mr Sivaramakrishnan said.
The committee members said they will not zero in on any single location for setting up capital city. It is for the AP government to take a decision in consultation with the Centre.
“We will identify 13-15 locations all over Seemandhra that can be developed as growth centres. We are for decentralised development. We should see that no centre becomes dominant. The state is also conscious about this,” he said.
"This kind of bifurcation (of the state) is unprecedented in Indian history. The AP state government has 192 offices, all located in Hyderabad. There are 89 other organs related to AP in Hyderabad. Now, all these need not be located in one place in the new capital. There is no point having the office of Director of Ports in Anantapuram where there is no water at all," he pointed out.
The committee will also visit Prakasam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and other districts not covered by it so far before submitting its final report. “We will be discussing with the Government of India the special arrangements that have to be made for building AP’s new capital as per the Reorganisation Act. We have to explain the problems to the Centre and there are certain practical realities to be sorted out," he added.
