Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said land pooling system will be adopted and made it clear that the government would go for land acquisition, only if the farmers and the landlords refuse to surrender their land. A special officer will be appointed soon to monitor the system.
Mr Naidu said the capital city would require 30,000 acres comprising clusters and would come up in five years. World-class architects and designers would be invited to help AP build a world-class capital city.
The CM also issued directions for the process to be initiated for beautification and development of Vijayawada and Guntur cities. The capital city with a riverfront view will come up between these two cities, mostly towards the Guntur side.
The existing Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali, Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority will be dissolved and replaced by the new Capital Region Development Authority to be headed by the CM. The CRDA will be notified shortly.
The CM, along with the members of the state advisory committee on the capital city and land pooling, took these decisions on Saturday. The meeting also decided that an urban development authority for Visakhapatnam would be formed on the lines of the capital city. The CM would be the chairman of the UDA.
Sources told that Mr Naidu wanted the local MLAs and ministers to shoulder the responsibility of convincing farmers to surrender their land under the pooling system. The CM made it clear that land acquisition should be the last option, only if farmers refuse to surrender their land.
Under the LPS, 50 per cent of the land would be earmarked for common assets. The landless poor will be provided training and other assistance for employment opportunities, the CM said.
The onus of persuading farmers and landlords to surrender their land under the “land pooling system” for the AP capital now rests on local legislators
and ministers, along with district collectors of Krishna and Guntur respectively.
The land owners will enjoy exemption from payment of stamp duty, registration fee and NALA charges i.e. conversion of land from agricultural category to residential and commercial, in addition to getting Rs 25,000 per acre per annum.
