Another battle for Capital city appears imminent

Vijayawada: The Seemandhra agitation against division of the State has been eased with the division process getting through the Lok Sabha.

The Andhra Pradesh NonGazetted Officers Association (APNGOs), which spearheaded the Seemandhra movement for more than four months, had called off its strike. The employees are set to return to their work places by Thursday. Some of them have already reported for duty, putting the struggle to rest.

As the dust is almost settled down, a new topic of debate that could be as acrimonious is on the capital for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh. With focus shifting to the new capital, the struggle ahead is set to be between Seema and Andhra.

The Rayalaseema leaders are set to renew their demand for zeroing in on Kurnool, which was the first capital of Andhra State after it was carved out from the then Madras State in 1953. Kurnool remained the capital till November 1, 1956 when Andhra Pradesh was created.

Now that the State is restored to the 1953 situation, Rayalaseema leaders are seeking restoration of Kurnool. Interestingly, the Rayalaseema members of the APNGOs too are in favour of having the capital in their area and this could split APNGOs.

However, there is even stronger lobbying from the coastal districts for location of the capital around Vijayawada. A good number of leaders favour locating the new capital between Vijayawada and Guntur, an ideal place and centrally located for the residuary State.

The campus of Acharya Nagarjuna University, which is spread over 400 acres and having abundant land behind the campus between Nambur to Tenali, is seen as suitable place for the new capital.

There is also another view for location of the capital between Vijayawada and Eluru taking over 15,000 acres of forest land available in Bapulapadu, Musunuru and Nuzvid mandals. Leaders and business community from the coastal districts are in favour of having their new capital around Vijayawada.

The Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry had already sent proposals to the Group of Ministers (GoM) suggesting Vijayawada as the ideal location for the new capital.

The Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had brought out an exhaustive note on promoting KGPG (Krishna, Godavari, Prakasam, Guntur) corridor projecting the area most suitable for the new capital and also highlighting its potential for future development.