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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Committee for new Seemandhra capital constituted
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Committee for new Seemandhra capital constituted

The committee will have to consult the Union govt and both the new state govts before submitting its recommendations by 31 Aug

Comprising 13 districts spread across two regions, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the new state will have to build its capital after Andhra Pradesh’s capital Hyderabad is transferred to Telangana. Photo: MintPremium
Comprising 13 districts spread across two regions, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the new state will have to build its capital after Andhra Pradesh’s capital Hyderabad is transferred to Telangana. Photo: Mint

Hyderabad: The Union government on Friday constituted a committee comprising urban planning and public policy specialists to finalise the new capital of the non-Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, popularly called Seemandhra.

Retired civil servant and chairman of Centre for Policy Research K.C. Siva Ramakrishnan will be the chairman of the committee. The other members are Rathin Roy, director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; Aromar Revi, director of Indian Institute for Human Settlements; Jagan Shah, director of National Institute of Urban Affairs; and K.T. Ravindran, former dean of School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

The committee will have to consult the Union government and both the new state governments before submitting its recommendations by 31 August, the Union ministry of home affairs said in a statement.

Comprising 13 districts spread across two regions, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the new state will have to build its capital after Andhra Pradesh’s capital Hyderabad is transferred to Telangana.

Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for a 10-year period until Seemandhra builds its capital, according to legislation passed by Parliament. Telangana will officially be the country’s 29th state from 2 June.

The committee will have to evaluate various locations in the state and make its recommendations on the basis of land availability, access to water and other essential natural resources “with due regard to the possibility of de-reservation of degraded forest land," according to the terms of reference laid out by the home ministry.

The new capital will become a contentious issue among the different districts of the state, said E. Venkatesu, political science professor at University of Hyderabad. The possible contenders are Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada-Guntur belt, Donakonda in Prakasam district, and Tirupati. Organisations in different districts have already begun lobbying for the new capital.

The potential capital should have adequate land to house the state secretariat, state legislature (assembly and council), Raj Bhavan, a high court, government offices, guest houses, residential quarters and other physical infrastructure such as conference halls, stadiums, convention centres, markets, hospitals, educational institutes, hotels and other places of recreation.

At the same time, the committee should consider a location that entails minimum cost of land acquisition and construction, besides ascertaining the availability of raw materials, skilled and unskilled labour to construct the new capital. The new location should also not be vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes.

The new capital should ensure minimum resettlement of people and dislocation of agriculture systems, and not cause any harm to local ecology and water bodies.

The new capital should be well connected by rail, road and air to not just the 13 districts of the new Andhra Pradesh state, but also Hyderabad and other important cities in the region. The committee will also have to examine the possibility of developing rapid mass transit systems within the new capital city.

The committee will accept suggestions (feedback.expcomt@mha.gov.in) from the general public till 7 May.

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Published: 25 Apr 2014, 11:41 PM IST
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