Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President Chandrababu Naidu at Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guntur, DHNS: Two days after the YSRCP’s crushing defeat in the hotly contested Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, a group of women and farmers from around Amaravati visited outgoing chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s residence in Tadepalli. They carried flowers and fruits to offer him, as an expression of their “gratitude” for his loss in the election and “teaching” them to be resilient against any adversities.
For the last five years, these villagers have been fighting against Jagan’s three-capital plan which he had termed as a part of “decentralisation of development”. With the dethroning of Jagan, residents of around 30 villages in the Amaravati region are once again dreaming big.
Most of them had participated in the then N Chandrababu Naidu government’s land pooling scheme between 2014 and 2019 for the development of Amaravati as the capital of the residual state of Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation in 2014.
“We desired to be a part of the capital city and willingly relinquished our lands. However, the past five years have been full of hardship and uncertainty. Now we feel relieved,” said Thungala Hanumantha Rao, a resident of Ananthavaram. He had given away his six-and-a-half acres of land under land pooling.
Under the scheme, farmers from 29 villages surrendered approximately 34,000 acres of land during the tenure of Naidu. They were promised they would receive 800 to 1,200 square yards of residential land and 100 to 450 square yards of commercial land in the layouts developed by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).
Hence, it was natural for them to feel anxious when Jagan unveiled his three-capital plan. Jagan wanted the executive capital at Vizag, the seat of judiciary at Kurnool and legislature at Amaravati. If this plan materialised, it was obvious that the value of their sites in Amaravati would drop drastically.
Picture of neglect
As one traverses through the villages of Amaravati, several nearly completed but unoccupied buildings bear witness to the neglect of the Jagan government over the past five years. Large boards displaying details about government complexes that were to come up, gather bushes.
“We have high hopes for Chandababu Naidu. I’m sure Amaravati would be on top of his priority as soon as he takes oath as the new CM,” said a visibly beaming A Krishna, a resident of Krishnayapalem, who pooled his two acres.
With the aim to develop the new capital and to attract investments, the then AP government had entered into an MoU with the Singapore government for support in areas like creating a master plan for the capital region and seed capital, among others.
As part of the MoU, three master plans— a prospective master plan for the capital region, and master plans for the capital city and seed capital, were submitted by Singapore-based company Surbana Jurong in record time.
As the plans proceeded at lightning speed, only 15 per cent of the phase-one work tendering remained in 2019.
With the 'CEO' CM image Naidu carried, as he was credited with rebranding Hyderabad as Cyberabad, which has now emerged as one of the top IT destinations, the TDP chief made Amaravati a hot topic between 2014 and 2019.
Just before his term ended in 2019, a CRDA note revealed that the total cost of phase-1 was Rs 51,687 crore. On the ground, Rs 39,875 crore of the Rs 51,687 crore construction works were in progress.
While Amaravati is currently in a state of neglect, Naidu faces a challenging task of restarting his ambitious project.
“In the last few years, the TDP and its allies have been saying that Amaravati will be the only capital city, and they went to the polls with the same slogan. While it may present challenges, a renewed focus can lead to success,” said senior journalist and political analyst Ramesh Kandula.
He felt since Naidu received an unprecedented mandate, investor sentiment would also be restored. “Since TDP is a key member of the NDA, the Centre will not hesitate to release funds. Moreover, Amaravati is a self-funded project. For instance, APCRDA independently generated a majority of the funds through several means and ways. Amaravati does not require much government funding, but it certainly requires special attention,” said Ramesh.
The Sivarama Krishnan Committee that was appointed by the Centre to study and suggest the location for new capital in its report made an indicative cost estimate for AP Capital Zone buildings, infrastructure, etc. of Rs 27,097 crore at 2014 prices.
The committee indicated that an amount of Rs 4,49,505 crore was required for the overall economic development of AP.
As per the AP Reorganisation Act, the Centre shall provide financial support for the creation of essential facilities in the new capital. However, until now, the Centre has released only Rs 1,500 crore for the purpose.
With the tide turning in favour of Amaravati, the small village Uddandarayunipalem in the region is once again in the limelight. It was here in 2015 that the Naidu government held a grand event to lay the foundation for Amaravati.
Under the ‘Mana Matti, Mana Neeru, Mana Amaravati (our soil, our water and our Amaravati)’ campaign, soil and sacred water from prominent pilgrim centres were brought here. They were mixed and sprinkled in the area with a chopper.
While the plaques, boards and buildings in Amaravati have been gathering dust in the last five years, Naidu is likely to give them a new sheen in the coming days.
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