Master plan for Capital may be delayed

VIJAYAWADA: The preparation of the master plan for identifying and creating special zones for individual, agricultural and residential purposes within the jurisdiction of the Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM-UDA) may take some more time in the wake of the state government's plan to set up the capital city that also falls under the UDA limits.

The UDA authorities opine that the state government may ask them to take steps for inclusion of the proposed capital region in the master plan which is now being prepared by a consultant.

They also say that there is a possibility of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department (MA & UD) appointing another consultant exclusively for preparing a master plan for the capital region.

'The Andhra Pradesh government will acquire the land required for building the Capital within six months and begin the capital construction works in a year,' said member of a Cabinet sub-committee on capital P Narayana in Hyderabad Friday.

IT minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy said the state government is considering building the capital with modern facilities.

'We have decided to acquire one lakh acres of land required for the capital through the land pooling system. In the first phase, 25,000 acres land will be acquired and another 25,000 acres in the second phase. We will acquire the land in Guntur, Tenali, Vijayawada and Mangalagiri areas,' said Raghunatha Reddy.

VGTM-UDA's area has expanded from 1,954 sq.km to 7,063 sq.km in 2012. With this, the authorities appointed a private consultant in 2013 (before division of the State) to prepare a master plan keeping the infrastructure requirements till 2031 in mind.

'The consultant has also begun the work. In the changed scenario, the consultant may be asked to include the new proposal in the master plan or the government will appoint another consultant for the job. The consultant is supposed to submit its plan within two years, but now it will be delayed.' said a senior officer with the UDA.

'Presently, there is a little uncertainty as we have no clarity on whether the government will instruct us to include the capital region in preparing the master plan or will it appoint an exclusive consultant for the capital region,' he added.

'MASTER' CONFUSION

The government has expanded the UDA limits up to Ponnur, Sattenapalli, Amaravathi in Guntur district and Nuzvid, Nandigama, Gudivada and Pamarru in Krishna district.

UDA's jurisdiction was only 1,954 square km in 1978. With the inclusion of the above locations from Krishna and Guntur districts, the area has now expanded to 7,063 km.

The government may appoint a new consultant for the preparation of the master plan in the wake of its decision to locate capital city in VGTM UDA limits.