Panel on new Andhra Pradesh capital to meet Chief Minister tomorrow

HYDERABAD: The expert committee constituted by the Centre to study various alternatives regarding the new capital for Andhra Pradesh, will hold further round of talks with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here tomorrow before finalising its recommendations.

The five-member committee, headed by former Urban Development Secretary K C Sivaramakrishnan, had submitted its preliminary report to the chief minister here last month. The committee toured Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur, Anantapuram, Kurnool and Tirupati as part of its exercise to identify a suitable location for the capital of AP.

Though Naidu is said to be inclined to make Vijayawada-Guntur the capital city, he has stopped short of making a formal announcement as he is awaiting the recommendations of the Sivaramakrishnan Committee. Simultaneously, the Chief Minister constituted a separate committee headed by state Urban Development Minister P Narayana to suggest options on the capital.

Narayana met Sivaramakrishnan in New Delhi a couple of days ago and put forth certain proposals.

While clearly indicating that Vijayawada-Guntur region would be a central location, Narayana suggested that the central committee takes population and distance as criteria for locating the capital city.

The four Rayalaseema districts and two south coastal districts of Nellore and Prakasam have a combined population of 2.15 crore and the farthest point in Anantapuram district from Vijayawada-Guntur was 545 km away.

Similarly, population in seven districts from Guntur to Srikakulam was 2.8 crore and the farthest point in Srikakulam district from Vijayawada-Guntur was 624 km.

As the four Rayalaseema districts and three of north coastal Andhra would get a special development package under the AP Reorganisation Act, the state government intends to develop those districts industrially. Development of coastal corridor and ports has been envisaged for other coastal districts, the minister told the expert committee.