Hyderabad: The capital of AP will not be modelled on any one particular city; instead best aspects of different cities across the globe would be emulated to suit local conditions and topography. While clustered development model found in Putrajaya, Malaysia and Navi Mumbai, could be adopted for buildings, the river-front model of Thames in London, skyscrapers of New York, city structure of China, or port-based development like Singapore and Dubai, could also be considered for implementation, feels the government. The state-level advisory committee on capital city, comprising business honchos and headed by the municipal administration minister, has already commenced its junket to 10 cities, four of which are in India and six abroad. The list of cities to be visited by the committee may increase.
Speaking to this newspaper over the phone from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, municipal and urban development minister Dr P. Narayana said they were visiting different cities to adopt the best methods and models of world class cities. “Another important reason for the committee’s visit to various cities in India and abroad is to study and avoid the mistakes committed in building capitals, while constructing the capital for Andhra Pradesh. The formula is to adopt best design, techniques, methods and models and avoid mistakes and gaps left after construction of world class cities,” Mr Narayana said.
He cited the example of Gandhinagar, built 25 km from Ahmedabad, due to which people could return to Ahmedabad, after work. “There used to be no social life in Gandhinagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged social life by giving land on outskirts to private players to build residential colonies and the social life is now increasing,” he said. and added AP’s capital city location will not face such problems as both Vijayawada and Guntur are well developed cities with proper social life. Singapore government and McKinsey, among others, have stepped forward to help the AP government in building a world class capital city. Also experts from education, medical, health, technical, IT and other industries, among others, will be appointed soon to help the government to design and build.
