Capital city on the lines of London - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who had earlier studied the models of Singapore city and Putra Jaya in Malaysia to design the new capital of the state, is now said to be focusing his attention to London to prepare a blueprint for the capital city.

Naidu is understood to be contemplating building the new capital on the river Krishna near Amaravathi akin to the Thames in London, across Guntur and Krishna districts, to make it a world-class city.

As part of his grand plan, the chief minister is said to be planning to construct two 'ultra-modern bridges' across the river Krishna at Amaravathi to connect the erstwhile capital of Andhras with key cities and towns in Krishna district. Naidu intends to promote tourism in the new capital city with the move.

Naidu is holding discussion with various international consultants to develop the proposed water grid. 'The chief minister has been burning the midnight oil to build a world-class capital for AP and has been going through various designs,' said communications advisor to the AP government Parakala Prabhakar.

According to sources, a day after announcing the capital, Naidu asked the nine-member advisory panel head by municipal administration minister P Narayana to prepare a detailed project report on the issue.

It is also learnt that the panel has begun consultations with top agencies from the USA to design a 44-storey building in the capital to house the administrative blocks of the government.

Meanwhile, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu told mediapersons that the newly-constituted ministerial panel on land pooling will tour Krishna and Guntur to identify lands for the constructions of the capital city.

'We have already asked minister and party MLAs from the two districts to interact with local farmers to learn of their viewpoint on the acquisition. Most of the land will be acquired through land pooling,' he said and added that land pooling will be the only option to acquire lands as the state is under a grave financial crisis.

The minister further disclosed that the government was planning to give a better offer to those farmers who vountarily come forward to give lands to the government for the construction.

When asked about the possibility of some offices of the government shifting from Hyderabad to Vijayawada on October 2, Yanamala said: 'We are planning to shift some offices and the headquarters of corporations to Vijayawada. This will materialise only after de-notification of SEZ status accorded to the Medha Complex near Gannavaram on the outskirts of the city.'

'Will Seek Funds from Finance Panel'

Yanamala Ramakrishnudu divulged that the state government will request the 14th Finance Commission to allocate more funds under special grants to Andhra Pradesh.

The commission will arrive in Tirupati on September 12 to interact with chief minister Naidu and other senior officials. 'We will seek more funds under special grants other than its due as the state is facing a financial crunch post-bifurcation,' he said.