Sivaramakrishnan Committee submitted report to Union Home
Ministry on AP Capital
Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union
Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of
Andhra Pradesh...
KIRAN RAPAKA
AUG 29, 2014 11:49 IST
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Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union
Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of
Andhra Pradesh submitted its report on 27 August 2014 to the
Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
The committee gave options about the capital and positive and
negative points of the places. But the committee did not Zero in
on any particular place for the capital. It only mentioned the
availability of lands and other factors.
Interestingly, the committee objected Vijayawada to be the
capital, in the context of the AP government transferring certain
departments to Vijayawada, declaring it as the future capital.
Highlights of the Report
• Opined the capital could be between Marturu and Vinukonda.
• It also proposed Musunuru, Mangalagiri, Macherla, Gollapally,
Vinukonda, Marturu, Donakonda, Pulichintala as suitable for
Capital regions.
• Referred three zones set up for the capital.
• Opposed the building of Super City or Smart City.
• Said that capital between Vijayawada-Guntur is incorrect
because it would bring up economic and environmental
problems.
• It also opined that farmers and laborers are more Krishna and
Guntur districts and would make it difficult for land acquisition
and would benefit only realtors and the traffic in Vijayawada-
Guntur-Mangalagiri- tenali cities is likely to be higher.
• Road connectivity should be increased on the banks of river
Krishna.
• It suggested, to divide, Andhra Pradesh into four parts.They
should be Uttara Andhra (Northern Andhra), Madhya Andhra
(Central Andhra), Coastha Andhra(Coastal Andhra) and
Rayalaseema.
• As per committee, Uttara Andhra comprises Srikakulam,
Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari, Madhya
Andhra comprises West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts,
Coastha Andhra comprises Nellore and Prakasam districts and
Rayalaseema comprises YSR Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur and
Chittoor districts.
• Vishakhapatnam should be set up as a high-tech zone and
109 office should be set up in its zone.
• High Court should be set up in Visakhapatnam and a High
Court Bench should be in either Anantapur or Kurnool.
• Kalahasthi Zone to be set up as the Railway Zone. Guntur-
Chennai Central Railway corridor to be set up.
• Assembly, secretariat, the chief minister's office should be set
up in the capital city.
• It urged to do justice to Kurnool, as it was a capital in the past
for the state of Andhra.
• Mangalagiri area has less reserved forest.
About Sivaramakrishnan Committee
• Union government has set up five-member committee under
the chairmanship of former Home Secretary K.
Sivaramakrishnan to suggest the place to build the capital city
of Andhra Pradesh.
• The other members of the committee are Rathin Roy, Aromar
Revi, Jagan Shah and K.T. Ravindran.
• The committee will travel around the state of Andhra Pradesh
and suggest a suitable place to be the new capital of Andhra
Pradesh by 31 August 2014.
A capital plan
SEPTEMBER 05, 2014 02:33 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 22, 2016 03:05 IST
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In choosing to build the >capital of Andhra Pradesh in the Vijayawada-Guntur region, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu went by its central location, its proximity to the cities of Vijayawada and Guntur and the availability of land, rather than by the cost of land acquisition. The locational advantages clearly outweigh the relative disadvantage of land cost, and Mr. Naidu must have felt justified in overruling the report of the Sivaramakrishnan Committee, appointed by the Union Home Ministry to identify alternative locations for the >new capital of Andhra Pradesh . Where Mr. Naidu and the Committee agree is on the decentralised development of the State: Andhra Pradesh will now have three mega-cities and 14 smart cities, and not just one super-capital. Even while rejecting the Committee’s objections to raising a capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri region, the Chief Minister seems to be conscious of its concerns about concentrating development in a single, large capital city. But Mr. Naidu also invoked popular sentiment to justify his decision, noting that nearly 50 per cent of the representations received by the Committee favoured the >Vijayawada-Guntur region as the best possible location. Any area >around Vijayawada would allow easier access to the capital to people from all regions of the State, and provide for more even development.
The Sivaramakrishnan Committee, while >proposing the development of a string of cities as business and industrial hubs, and the distribution of government offices across districts, went strictly by its terms of reference. The panel was particular that the development of the capital and accommodation of government offices cause the least possible dislocation to existing agricultural systems, promote environmentally sustainable growth, and minimise the cost of land and construction. But while, as the >Sivaramakrishnan Committee report says, distances are no longer a deterrent at a time of increased road and rail connectivity and modern electronic communication systems, a centrally located and easily accessible capital city is essential for smooth and speedy governance. Conversion of farmlands, displacement of people dependent on agriculture, and the cost of land acquisition and construction are serious issues, but >Andhra Pradesh needs to have a capital with important government offices in close proximity. Hyderabad will remain a joint capital only for 10 years, and the creation of the capital will have to begin soon and be completed quickly. The Vijayawada-Guntur region suggested itself, and will be ideal for the new capital once landowners are given fair compensation, and conversion of agricultural lands is kept to the minimum. Finding the resources for building the capital is not an insurmountable task.
