Guntur: The CRDA is conducting feasibility study on the River Krishna so that it can start a boat transport service to old Amaravati and connecting the new capital from the Prakasam Barrage. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had earlier announced water transport service on the River Krishna, following the decades-old demand by the people. The introduction of a water transport system will also help shift construction material meant for the new buildings to come up in Amaravati.
According to the CRDA sources, work on the capital work is scheduled to start in January and a four-lane road is proposed from Kanakadurga Varadhi in Vijayawada to Tullur. However, laying of the road will take time hence the CRDA is focusing on shifting construction material through launches and boats on the river. Amaravati will be the only state capital in the country with road, rail, air and water connectivity.
A dedicated freight corridor, national waterway, future urbanisable agriculture land zone, agriculture protection zones, airport, high-speed rail connectivity, regional expressway, outer regional expressway and capital bypass are proposed in the new capital plan.
The distance between old Amaravati and Vijayawada is 40 km, but it takes around 1.5 hours to cover id due to narrow roads and traffic jams. Using the river for transportation will help save time. Further, the government expects the population of the state capital region to go up to 50 lakh.
MLA K. Sridhar said that Mr Naidu favours a waterway to old Amaravati and the government will start work on this as early as possible. The waterway would be linked to Buckingham canal for National Waterway No. 4 and to Nizampatnam and Machilipatnam ports.
Amaravati residents N. Gopal and others welcomed the waterway proposal and said that this will help in faster development of the state capital region, especially the villages and the old Amaravati town.
Good response to launches that ply on the River Krishna
The boat transport service operating between Rayapudi and Ibrahimpatnam reduces travel time and also money. Besides this, another boat transport facility at Amaravati to reach Krishna district is very popular in the Krishna River. The launch service is available from morning to evening between Rayapudi to Ibrahimpatnam. Most of the people from the Capital Region villages travel by the launch on their motorcycles to go to Vijayawada for their work. There are no waterway facilities to reach capital cities in various states of our country. Amaravati is the first capital city with direct waterway from Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Kolkata national highway.
The 20- minute journey on the floating waters of Krishna River with cool breeze gives people an unforgettable experience. A similar boat service is available at old Amaravati from Chillakallu of Krishna district. P. Suresh, a student and his friends hailing from Tullur said that they were studying engineering in private college at Ibrahimpatnam and the launch service was helpful to them since they are allowed to carry their motorcycles along with them while to the other side of the riverbank.
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