Andhra Pradesh expert panel had opposed governance activity at Vizag

HYDERABAD: The expert committee headed by GN Rao, based on which the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh decided to have three capitals, categorically stated that any major new governance activity at Visakhapatnam was neither required nor desirable owing to serious constraints. Last week, the Reddy government decided to have decentralised governance and development by having three capitals — legislative at Amaravati, executive at Visakhapatnam and judicial at Kurnool, and passed a resolution accordingly in the Assembly.

Later, the YSR Congress government resorted to passing a resolution in the Assembly to abolish the upper house dominated by the Opposition Telugu Desam Party that referred the bills on decentralised governance to a select committee.

The GN Rao Committee report, which came into circulation on Wednesday, aired concerns that Visakhapatnam as an eco-fragile zone faces threats of severe cyclones, floods, and rise in sea levels, saline water infiltrating into groundwater and oil spillages on the port.


“The Metropolitan Region (of Visakhapatnam) also poses a security threat considering the fact that the region hosts the Eastern Naval Command and possible (nuclear) submarine activities,” said the panel report, adding that “Any major new governance activity is neither required from a settlement pattern point of view, nor desirable under the constraints discussed.”