Hyderabad: The administrative city of Amaravati, the futuristic capital of Andhra Pradesh, will soon be a reality. The AP government shifted its administrative base to Amaravati by constructing a Temporary Secretariat and Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi and the AP Assembly is also conducting its session in a temporary building at Velagapudi, but the stage is set for work on the core capital to begin.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu wishes to transform Amaravati into a city that combines history with modernity, and construction of this modern marvel — being designed by Foster & Partners — will begin on May 15 on the banks of Krishna River at Uddan-darayunipalem.
Mr Naidu will hand over the land papers to a team of 15-member Singapore consortium. A land puja will be held during the auspicious muhurut from 2.54 pm to 3.45 pm and a public meeting will also be held to mark the occasion.
The pact between the Singapore consortium and the AP government will be signed on May 15 to develop Amaravati as the government core capital in 950 acres in Uddandarayunipalem, Lingayapalem, Rayapudi and Tallayapalem of Amaravati Capital Region. The AP government plans to complete the Core Capital by December 2018.
The AP Assembly, Secretariat, High Court, Raj Bhavan, Chief Minister’s Office and residence, commissionerates, central/state government public enterprise offices, ministers’ quarters, city gallery and a cultural centre will be part of the core capital. As many as 6 lakh people are expected to live in the Amaravati core capital.
The city will have four prominent gateways bearing resemblance to the entrance of historic temples, city squares designed on the lines of Trafalgar and Sloane Squares, public spaces such as Battersea Park and a 27-km-long waterfront. The city has been planned on the basis of wind flow patterns.
B. Nageswara Rao, a native of Uddandarayunipalem, said that the government has conducted land puja several times but work never started. Mr. Rao and others recalled that Mr. Naidu conducted land pujas twice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted puja once and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely performed the puja once. But despite that, construction work did not begin.
They said that as the Temporary Secretariat and Temporary Assembly structures were completed swiftly, Mr. Naidu needs to give the Singapore Consortium a target to complete the core capital without delay.
Officials from various departments are camped at the venue and started arrangements for the land puja and public meeting.
Guntur Collector K. Sasidhar said the land puja for the core capital will be held from 2.54 pm to 3.45 pm and a public meeting - to be attended by 5,000 people - will be held. He added that separate galleries would be available to LPS farmers and that water and buttermilk will be supplied to the public.
