Temporary Andhra Pradesh capital to become functional at Thullur by July: Minister

GUNTUR: Thullur in Guntur district will serve as a temporary location for Andhra Pradesh capital which will start functioning by July, state municipal administration minister P Narayana said here today.

"About 5 lakh square meters of plinth area for buildings would be constructed by June or July to establish the temporary capital at Thullur village," said Narayana, who looks after the Capital Construction programme.

He was speaking to reporters after inaugurating the temporary office of 'Capital Region Development Authority' (CRDA) at Thullur, which he said will streamline the land acquisition process for setting up of new capital by taking farmers into confidence.

The new AP capital would be developed in four tehsils--Thullur and Mangalagiri in Guntur district--and Ibrahimpatnam and Kanchakacharla in Krishna district.

On acquisition of lands for the capital, the minister said, "the government has decided to acquire about 30,000 acres of land for the purpose but could manage to acquire about 6,000 acres of land from farmers."

He said two IAS officers are deputed for expediting the process for acquisition of land and construction of the capital.